Have you ever wondered if you can improve your Japanese from watching anime? While it’s not a substitute for conscious and deliberate learning of Japanese, you can come away learning a lot from watching anime! Today, I am going to break down this phrase by Itachi Uchiha (うちはイタチ) in Naruto:
許せ、サスケ。また今度だ。 yuruse sasuke. mata kondo da Sorry, Sasuke. Next time.
Vocabulary in this phrase
Firstly, let’s look at the vocabulary in this phrase!
許(ゆる)せ (yuruse) : forgive
This is the imperative form of the verb 許します. If you want to find out more about what the imperative form and how to make it, you can find more about it from the previous article!
サスケ: Sasuke Itachi’s brother’s name
今度（こんど） This phrase is made of two kanji characters: 今 (kon / ima: now) and 度 (do / tabi: degree or occurrence). The meaning of 今度 can be confusing as it can mean either ‘this time’ or ‘next time’. So, how do you use it and interpret it? In order to find out what 今度 means in the sentence, you will have to find out when the word refers to. When 今度 refers to the future, then it means ‘next time’. On the other hand, when it refers to either an event in the past or the present, then it means ‘this time’. Let’s look at examples 🙂
今度の夏は、東京に行きたい。 kondo no natsu wa koukyou ni ikitai I want to go to Tokyo next summer
Here, 行きたい is ‘want to go’, therefore, referring to the future event. As a result, 今度 here means ‘next time’. 今度の夏 can be ‘next summer’, meaning exactly the same as when you say 次（つぎ）の夏.
今度のテストは、あまり難しくなかった。 kondo no tesuto wa amari muzukashiku nakatta This time’s test wasn’t very difficult.
Meanwhile, 難しくなかった refers to ‘wasn’t difficult’, and it refers to the past event. Therefore, 今度 in this sentence refers to ‘this time’.
だ
だ at the end of the phrase essentially means ‘to be’, and is the same as です. However, だ is more casual than です and is used to affirm and emphasise.
Similar phrases you can use in Japanese conversations
また今度 is actually a frequently used phrase by many Japanese people. As directly saying no (いいえ、いやです、だめです、いけません etc.) can be quite rude in Japan, this is a soft way to decline an invitation or a suggestion. If you invite someone and they replied to you with ‘また今度’. then they are not keen. Other similar phrases include:
また今度にしましょう mata kondo ni shimashō Let’s do that next time
また今度はどうですか。 mata kondo wa dōdesuka How about next time?
Summary / まとめ
To sum up, this article explored Itachi’s phrase ‘許せ、サスケ。また今度だ。’ and discussed vocabulary in the phrase and similar expressions. If you found this article was helpful, I would be glad. If you have an anime phrase you would like be to break down, please let me know!
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