Japanese with Manga

Receiving a haunting with 〜れる

Grammar Explanation: Receptive verbs with 〜れる

Manga panel from ご注文はうさぎですか？ showing example of Receiving a haunting with 〜れる.
ご注文はうさぎですか？ » Volume 1 » Page 73

After hearing Chiya’s ghost story, Cocoa is left tembling.

ココア:
「ぜ…絶対(ぜったい)取(と)り憑(つ)かれる…」
“I-I'm definitely going to receive possession...”
Literal: “I-I'm definitely going to receive possession...”

Key Points

1取(と)り憑(つ)かれる means being possessed
  • Cocoa imagines herself receiving the action of 取(と)り憑(つ)く, so the natural English reading is “be possessed” or “be haunted”.
2取(と)り憑(つ)く becomes 取(と)り憑(つ)かれる
  • The godan verb changes to the negative stem 取(と)り憑(つ)か and adds れる.
3絶対(ぜったい) shows Cocoa’s panicked certainty
  • The sentence omits the subject “I” and the spirit doing the possessing. Her stammer and 絶対(ぜったい) make the prediction sound frightened.

Vocabulary

(Absolute)

絶対(ぜったい) means absolute or unconditional. It suggests something so complete that it stands beyond opposition or exception.

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