Sakki rāmen-o tabeta-bakari-desu (But you've just had ramen)

Situation 1: A late Sunday afternoon at the Okubo house.

光男： おなかがすいた！晩御飯、まだ？

母： あら、もう？さっきラーメンを食べたばかりじゃない。

Mitsuo: Onaka-ga suita! Bangohan, mada?

Haha: Ara, mō? Sakki rāmen-o tabeta-bakari-ja nai.

Mitsuo: I'm hungry! Isn't it dinner time yet?

Mother: What, already? But you've just had ramen.

Today we look at various ways of using the colloquial nouns さっき (a short while ago) and あと (after a while). さっき is the colloquial form of 先 (さき) and expresses a subjective length of time in a day, i.e., a length the speaker feels is rather short. It is used as a noun-modifier in the form さっきの, as in さっきの話 (はなし) は、わすれてください (Please forget what I said just now). But the adverbial form is not さっきに but さっき, as the mother says in Situation 1. In formal conversation, さきほど is used instead of さっき.

Situation 2: The Shibas are preparing to go hiking, with baby Jun.

夫：　 えーっと、べんとうは入れたし、お菓子と、麦茶と...、あと、何かあったかな？

妻： あ、じゅんの紙おむつも入れなくちゃ。

Otto: Ētto, bentō-wa ireta-shi, okashi-to, mugicha-to... ato, nanika atta-kana?

Tsuma: A, Jun-no kami-omutsu-mo irenakucha.

Husband: Well, I've packed our lunch boxes, sweets, bottles of barley tea ... and, anything else?

Wife: Oh, I have to pack Jun's paper diapers, too.

あと is a noun that is used in both spoken and written language, and in casual as well as formal conversations. あと is used in the pattern of X (noun) のあと and means "after X," as in 食事 (しょくじ, meal) のあと ("after the meal"). Its noun-modifying form is あとの, as in 食事のあとのコーヒー (after-dinner coffee). Its adverbial form is あとで and あとに. Here are examples of both, respectively: 食事のあとで/あとにコーヒーを飲 (の) んだ ( I drank coffee after the meal). In this pattern, で/に is often omitted. Using あと adverbially, the pattern of あとX (numeral) expresses that X is still left, as in 定年 (ていねん) まであと三年 (さんねん) ある (There are three years left before I hit retirement age). The あと that the husband uses in Situation 2 is in the colloquial style, and works like a conjunction particle. It is used to add something to the former sentence. One more example: ビールとジュースは買 (か) った。あと 、ミネラルウォーターもあったほうがいいな。 (I bought beer and juice. Also, mineral water might be a good idea).

Bonus Dialogue: Mr. Sere tells colleagues Ms. Tamachi and Ms. Gray about an e-mail he got from Mr. Mita, who is in hospital.

セレ： さっき三田（みた）くんからメールが来（き）て、たいくつだから、みんなでみまいに来（き）てほしいって。

田町： 盲腸（もうちょう）の手術（しゅじゅつ）だから、あと二、三日（にさんにち）で退院（たいいん）でしょ？ 甘（あま）えてる。

セレ： 彼女（かのじょ）にふられたばかりだから、甘えさせてあげようよ。

グレイ： たいくつしているんなら、何（なに）か、本（ほん） を持（も）っていくといいね。

田町： セレさんがおもしろいと思（おも）ったフランス語（ご）の小説（しょうせつ）を貸（か）してあげれば？

セレ： 外国語（がいこくご）はおことわりだって。田町（たまち）さんのマンガを貸（か）してほしいそうだよ。

田町： マンガなんか、私（わたし）、持っていない。

セレ：　 あと、クロスワードパズルとか。

グレイ： 私のは英語（えいご）だし、田町さんは、パズルやらないし...。

セレ： じゃあ、小（ちい）さい造花（ぞうか）にでもするか。ぼくたちの顔（かお）を見（み）せるのが、一番 （いちばん）のプレゼントだからね。

Sere: A little while ago I got an email from Mr. Mita asking us to visit him in hospital, because he's bored.

Tamachi: I suppose that now he's had his appendix operation, he'll be able to leave the hospital in a few days. Isn't that spoiling him a bit?

Sere: Let's indulge him, since he broke up with his girlfriend very recently.

Gray: As he's bored, maybe we should take him some books.

Tamachi: Mr. Sere, why don't you lend him that French novel that you said was interesting?

Sere: He says he doesn't want anything in a foreign language. He wants to borrow Ms. Tamachi's comics.

Tamachi: I don't have any comics.

Sere: And, crossword puzzles?

Gray: Mine are in English, and Ms. Tamachi doesn't do puzzles.

Sere: Alright then, why don't we just take some small artificial flowers, since the best present is surely just the fact that we are visiting him?