Went to see a kindergarden sports day with 運動会

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orange » Volume 4 » Page 67

Kakeru’s grandmother unexpectedly shows up at the school sports day event.

おばあさん:
(かける)幼稚園(ようちえん)(とき)一度(いちど)だけ運動会(うんどうかい)()()った(こと)あったわね」
“I went to see your sports day just once when you were in kindergarten, didn't I?”
(かける):
「うん 東京(とうきょう)まで()てくれたよね」
“Yeah, you came all the way to Tokyo for me.”

Key Points

1運動会(うんどうかい) means “school sports day”
  • 運動(うんどう) is exercise or athletics, and (かい) is a gathering or organized event.
  • Here the compound names the school’s sports day, with races and other athletic events.
2運動会(うんどうかい)()()った means “went to watch the sports day”
  • ()() puts the verb stem () before () to state the purpose of going.
  • 運動会(うんどうかい) marks what Kakeru’s grandmother went to watch.
3一度(いちど)だけ()った(こと)あった means “there was just one time I went”
  • 一度(いちど)だけ means “only once”. だけ limits the number of visits.
  • The fuller form of ()った(こと)あった is ()った(こと)があった. Casual speech drops .
  • The past あった recalls an occasion from an earlier period.
4東京(とうきょう)まで()てくれた means “you came all the way to Tokyo for me”
  • まで marks Tokyo as the far endpoint of the trip, giving the sense of “all the way to Tokyo” here.
  • ()てくれた presents the trip as something Kakeru received and appreciated.
5わね and よね make this a shared memory
  • The grandmother’s わね sounds as though she is recalling the occasion and inviting Kakeru to agree.
  • Kakeru begins with うん and ends with よね, affirming her memory while asking her to confirm his added detail.

Vocabulary

(Time)

(とき) means time, a moment, or an occasion.

(Sports day)

運動会(うんどうかい) means a school sports day or community athletic meet with races and team events.

(To come)

()る means to come or move toward the speaker or the place being discussed.

See Also

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