sumi to tyakkazai ha mou katta kke?

It is read:

すみ と ちゃっかざい は もう かったっけ？

Word by word:

• 炭 = すみ = charcoal
• 着火剤 = ちゃっかざい = fire starter / kindling aid
• 買った = かった = bought
• っけ = sentence-ending expression used when trying to remember something

So the whole sentence sounds casual and natural in speech.

っけ is a casual sentence-ending expression used when the speaker is trying to remember something.

So 買ったっけ？ is not just a plain Did we buy it? It feels more like:

• Did we buy it already?
• Wait, did we already buy it?
• I forget — did we buy it?

It often shows that the speaker thinks the information may have been known before, but they are checking their memory.

This makes the sentence sound very natural in conversation.

Here, 炭と着火剤は makes charcoal and fire starter the topic of the sentence.

So the structure is basically:

• As for the charcoal and fire starter, did we already buy them?

Using は instead of を gives a topic-like feeling. It can also sound slightly contrastive, depending on context, as if the speaker is going through a checklist:

• The meat we bought.
• The drinks we bought.
• But charcoal and fire starter — did we buy those already?

If you used を, the sentence would focus more directly on the object of buy. That can also be possible in some contexts, but は is very natural when bringing up an item as a topic.

と connects nouns and means and.

So:

• 炭と着火剤 = charcoal and fire starter

This use of と is the standard way to join nouns in a complete list.

Because Japanese often uses the past form when asking whether an action has already happened.

So:

• もう買った？ = Did you already buy it? / Have you bought it already?

This is very natural in Japanese.

Even though English might use the present perfect (have bought), Japanese usually just uses the plain past form:

• 買った = bought / have bought

In this sentence, もう plus 買った gives the idea of already bought.

Here, もう means already.

So:

• もう買った = already bought

Be careful, because もう can also mean any more in negative sentences:

• もうない = there isn’t any more
• もう買わない = won’t buy any more

But in this sentence, with a positive past verb, it means already.

The subject is omitted, which is very common in Japanese.

From the sentence alone, it could mean:

• Did we already buy charcoal and fire starter?
• Did you already buy charcoal and fire starter?
• Did I already buy charcoal and fire starter?

The exact subject depends on context.

Because of っけ, it often sounds like the speaker is checking their memory, so we is a very natural interpretation in situations like planning a barbecue or camping trip.

Yes, it is casual conversational Japanese.

Reasons:

• 買った is plain casual past
• っけ is casual and commonly used in speech
• the whole sentence has a relaxed, spoken feel

A more polite version might be:

• 炭と着火剤はもう買いましたっけ？

But even っけ itself still feels conversational. In more formal situations, people might simply say:

• 炭と着火剤はもう買いましたか。

That is more straightforward and polite, but it loses the trying to remember nuance of っけ.

It can be either, and that is part of what makes っけ interesting.

It can sound like:

• asking another person for confirmation
• half-talking to oneself while trying to remember
• asking a group while thinking out loud

So the feeling is often something like:

• Wait, did we already buy charcoal and fire starter?

That slightly self-reflective tone is very typical of っけ.

Not really. There is no perfect one-word English equivalent.

Depending on context, you might translate it as:

• did we already...?
• I forget, did we...?
• was it that we already...?
• wait, did we...?

So it is better to think of っけ as a memory-checking tone marker rather than a word with one fixed English meaning.

Yes. It sounds like someone is mentally checking supplies, such as for:

• a barbecue
• camping
• an outdoor event

Because of は and っけ, it has a checklist / trying-to-remember feeling:

• As for the charcoal and fire starter, did we already buy them?

So the nuance is not just a neutral question. It sounds like the speaker is reviewing what has and has not been prepared.