The milk here is good with 牛乳
Kanji Explanation: Milk and nursing with 乳 (Future entry)
Yotsuba and her father have their first breakfast since moving to a new house in a new town. Yotsuba takes a bite from her toast, then drinks down some milk.
- よつば:
- 「こっちの牛乳はうめぇな！！」
- “The milk here is good!”
- 父さん:
- 「（いっしょだろう…）よつば 今日は遊びに行く時 ちゃんといってきますって言えよ」
- “(It tastes the same...) Yotsuba, when you go out to play today, make sure you say "I'm off", okay?”
Key Points
1牛乳 means “cow’s milk”
- The word combines 牛, “cow”, with 乳, “milk”. In ordinary conversation, it usually refers to dairy milk.
2こっちの牛乳 means “the milk here”
- こっち can mean “here” or “this side”. の connects it to 牛乳, identifying the milk associated with the place where Yotsuba now is.
- Her father thinks いっしょだろう, “It’s the same, isn’t it?” He does not share Yotsuba’s sense that the new place has better milk.
3うめぇ is a rough, casual form of うまい
- Here うまい means “tasty” or “good”. The change from あい to えぇ gives うめぇ, a blunt spoken form.
4Sentence-final な marks Yotsuba’s pleased reaction
- After うめぇ, な sounds like an appreciative “wow, this is good”. It is not the prohibitive な used after a dictionary-form verb to say “don’t”.
5いってきますって言えよ tells Yotsuba what to say
- The casual quotation marker って sets off いってきます as the phrase Yotsuba should say before leaving home.
- 言え is the plain imperative of 言う. Final よ makes the father’s reminder firm and direct.
Vocabulary
牛乳 (Milk)
牛乳 means cow’s milk.
今日 (Today)
今日 means today. In formal writing, it can also mean the present day or current era.
時 (Time)
時 means time, a moment, or an occasion.
言う (To say)
言う means to say or tell. It can also mean to call something by a particular name.
See Also
- Grammar: Quoting and reporting with と and って
- Grammar: The plain imperative
- Grammar: Going to for a purpose with 〜に行く
- Grammar: Marking the topic with は and も
- Vocabulary: Do it properly with ちゃんと
- Kanji: Now and the present with 今
よつばと！ © its respective creators. It is used here for educational commentary.