Wanting to be cared about with 〜たい
Grammar Explanation: Wanting to do with 〜たい
After a fight, Cocoa and Chino are finally on good terms again until Cocoa flips a pancake she’s cooking and it lands on Chino’s face. Soon after, Chino finds Cocoa face down on the table with a dying message written in ketchup.
- チノ:
- 「大変です！ココアさんがケチャップで死んでます！」
- “This is terrible! Cocoa's died in a pool of ketchup!”
- リゼ:
- 「構ってもらいたいんだよ真に受けるな」
- “She just wants attention from you, so don't take it seriously.”
- Literal: “She wants to receive being cared about, so don't take it seriously.”
Key Points
1構ってもらいたい means wanting attention from someone
- 〜てもらう presents Cocoa as receiving Chino’s attention, and たい expresses Cocoa’s desire.
2The speaker of the desire is inferred
- Rize is explaining Cocoa’s ketchup stunt, so the omitted subject of たい is Cocoa rather than Rize.
3んだよ explains the behavior
- Rize supplies wanting attention as the reason for Cocoa’s conduct, then tells Chino 真に受けるな, not to take it at face value.
4死んでます presents a result state as comic exaggeration
- The contracted form of 死んでいます describes Cocoa as lying covered in ketchup, not an actual death.
Vocabulary
大変 (Serious)
大変 means serious, terrible, or difficult. As an adverb, it means “very”.
See Also
- Grammar: Wanting to do with 〜たい
- Grammar: Having someone do something with 〜てもらう
- Grammar: Ongoing actions and resulting states with 〜ている
- Grammar: Polite style with です and ます
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