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Learn Japanese with Anime - Volleyball Is A Sport Where You're Always Looking Up!

9 Sentences|23 Words|19 Kanji Easy Peasy Japanesey »

Learn Japanese with Anime - Volleyball Is A Sport Where You're Always Looking Up!

Posted by EasyPeasyJapanesey over 3 years ago

In this video we’re going to analyse Keishin Ukai’s quote from Haikyu!!

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Analysis

下を向くんじゃねぇ

下 (noun) means “below”, “down” or “under”.

Noun を向く means “to face or turn towards something”.

So 下を向く means “to look down”.

んじゃねぇ is the negative imperative (don’t!), used with a verb dictionary form.

It’s the broken version of んじゃない which is commonly used in conversation. And it’s also the broken version of のではない which is rarely used as it sounds too stiff. んじゃねぇ sounds very rough and aggressive so It’s normally used in casual male speech.

So 下を向くんじゃねぇ means “don’t you dare look down”.

バレーは常に上を向くスポーツだ

Main Clause: バレーはスポーツだ

バレー means “volleyball”.
Please note that “ballet” is also called バレエ in Japanese. When we write it, we use the katakana エ for ballet instead of the prolonged sound mark (ー) in order to distinguish between them. But the pronunciation is the same so you usually need context in speech. If you want to make sure, you can say バレーボール for volleyball and バレエダンス (ballet dance) for ballet.

は is the particle indicating the topic of the sentence.

スポーツ means “sport”.

だ is used to make the statement affirmative and declarative.

So バレーはスポーツだ means “volleyball is a sport”.

Subordinate Clause: 常に上を向く

常に means “always”.

上 means “above”, “up” or “upon” so 上を向く means “to look up”.

The subordinate clause is inserted before the noun to add more information. So バレーは常に上を向くスポーツだ means “Volleyball is a sport where you’re always looking up!”

So when you want to modify a noun with a clause in Japanese, you don’t need a relative pronoun such as “where”, “which” or “that”. Instead, you put the subordinate clause before the noun that you want to modify.

Sentences

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Keishin Ukai’s Quote

Don’t you dare look down! Volleyball is a sport where you’re always looking up!

〜を向く (to face/turn towards something)

I always sleep on my side.
Sunflowers always face the Sun.
You have to walk facing forward, or you will bump into someone.

Verb Dictionary-Form + んじゃない (Negative Imperative)

Don’t lie!
Stop fooling around!
Don’t shout all of a sudden.

NOTE

  • It’s usually used between ones who are very close to each other or from superiors to inferiors in status such as parents to children or teachers to students.
  • んじゃありません is the polite negative imperative.
  • When the verb ends in る, the る is often removed in very rough speech.
Don’t you dare mock me.

“Verb Te-Form + いる” (progressive tense) is also used when the speaker wants to stop the listener’s continuing action. This る is often removed as well.

Stop laughing!

Vocabulary

Romaji Hide|Display Default|Add to ▼
aruku
godan verb, intransitive verb
  1. to walk
ue
noun, no adjective, adverb, noun, used as a suffix
  1. above; up; over
usowotsuku
expression, godan verb
  1. to tell a lie
sakebu
godan verb, intransitive verb
  1. to shout
supootsu
noun, no adjective
  1. sport; sports
taiyou
noun
  1. sun
tsuneni
adverb
  1. always; constantly
neru
ichidan verb, intransitive verb
  1. to sleep (lying down)
baree
noun
  1. barré (chord in guitar technique)
himawari
noun
  1. sunflower (Helianthus annuus)
fuzakeru
ichidan verb, intransitive verb
  1. to mess around
butsukaru
godan verb, intransitive verb
  1. to bump into

Kanji

Display Default|Add to ▼
Stroke Count
14 Strokes
Add to ▼
English Meaning
  1. lie, falsehood
Readings
Kun'yomi: ふ.く、うそ。
On'yomi: コ、キョ。
Stroke Count
2 Strokes
English Meaning
  1. person
Readings
Kun'yomi: ひと、-と、-り。
On'yomi: ニン、ジン。
Stroke Count
3 Strokes
English Meaning
  1. above, up
Readings
Kun'yomi: あ.げる、-あ.がり、-あ.がる、-あ.げる、-うえ、よ.す、あ.がり、あ.がる、うえ、かみ、うわ-、のぼ.す、のぼ.り、のぼ.る、のぼ.せる。
On'yomi: ジョウ、ショウ、シャン。
Stroke Count
3 Strokes
English Meaning
  1. below, down, descend, give, low, inferior
Readings
Kun'yomi: -くだ.す、お.りる、お.ろす、さ.がる、さ.げる、した、しも、もと、くだ.す、くだ.り、くだ.る、くだ.さる。
On'yomi: カ、ゲ。
Stroke Count
4 Strokes
English Meaning
  1. day, sun, Japan, counter for days
Readings
Kun'yomi: -か、-び、ひ。
On'yomi: ジツ、ニチ。
Stroke Count
9 Strokes
English Meaning
  1. in front, before
Readings
Kun'yomi: まえ、さき、-まえ。
On'yomi: ゼン、セン。
Stroke Count
4 Strokes
English Meaning
  1. direction, person, alternative
Readings
Kun'yomi: かた、まさ、-かた、-がた。
On'yomi: ホウ。
Stroke Count
8 Strokes
English Meaning
  1. walk, counter for steps
Readings
Kun'yomi: ある.く、あゆ.む。
On'yomi: フ、ブ、ホ。
Stroke Count
4 Strokes
English Meaning
  1. plump, thick, big around
Readings
Kun'yomi: ふと.い、ふと.る。
On'yomi: タ、ダ、タイ。
Stroke Count
6 Strokes
English Meaning
  1. yonder, facing, beyond, confront, defy, tend toward, approach
Readings
Kun'yomi: む(か).う、-む.き、-む.け、む.い、む.く、む.かい、む.かう、む.ける、む.こう、む.こう-、むこ、むか.い。
On'yomi: コウ、キョウ。
Stroke Count
10 Strokes
English Meaning
  1. laugh
Readings
Kun'yomi: わら.う、え.む、えみ。
On'yomi: ショウ。
Stroke Count
10 Strokes
English Meaning
  1. horse
Readings
Kun'yomi: うま、ま、うま-。
On'yomi: メ、バ、マ。
Stroke Count
11 Strokes
English Meaning
  1. usual, ordinary, normal, regular
Readings
Kun'yomi: つね、とこ、のぶ、ひ、ひた、とき、とこ-。
On'yomi: ジョウ、ショウ。
Stroke Count
12 Strokes
English Meaning
  1. sunshine, yang principle, positive, male, heaven, daytime
Readings
Kun'yomi: ひ。
On'yomi: ヨウ。
Stroke Count
13 Strokes
English Meaning
  1. lie down, sleep, rest, bed, remain unsold
Readings
Kun'yomi: ね.る、ね.かす、い.ぬ、みたまや、や.める。
On'yomi: シン。
Stroke Count
15 Strokes
English Meaning
  1. sideways, side, horizontal, width, woof
Readings
Kun'yomi: よこ。
On'yomi: オウ、コウ。
Stroke Count
6 Strokes
English Meaning
  1. shout, exclaim, yell
Readings
Kun'yomi: さけ.ぶ。
On'yomi: キョウ。
鹿
Stroke Count
11 Strokes
English Meaning
  1. deer
Readings
Kun'yomi: しか、か、しし。
On'yomi: ロク。
Stroke Count
12 Strokes
English Meaning
  1. hollyhock
Readings
Kun'yomi: あおい、け、まもる。
On'yomi: ギ、キ。

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