Breakdown of haha ha koutya wo sosoginagara 「daizyoubu?」 to kikimasita.
はha
topic particle
をwo
direct object particle
母haha
mother
紅茶koutya
black tea
注ぐsosogu
to pour
〜ながら〜nagara
while
大丈夫daizyoubu
okay
とto
quotative particle
聞くkiku
to ask
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Questions & Answers about haha ha koutya wo sosoginagara 「daizyoubu?」 to kikimasita.
What does 紅茶を注ぎながら mean, and how does the 〜ながら construction work?
The expression 紅茶を注ぎながら literally means “while pouring tea.” The suffix 〜ながら attaches to the verb stem (here, 注ぎ-) to indicate two actions happening simultaneously: “pouring tea” and whatever follows (in this case, asking “Are you okay?”).
Why is there a particle を after 紅茶 in 紅茶を注ぎながら?
を marks 紅茶 as the direct object of the verb 注ぐ (to pour). Even when you turn a verb into its 〜ながら form, the original particles (like を for direct objects) remain in place.
What role does the particle と play in 「大丈夫？」と聞きました?
と here is the quotation particle. It links the spoken words 大丈夫？ to the verb 聞きました (“asked”). In English, it’s like writing: He asked, “Are you okay?” without needing an extra word for “that.”
Why is 聞きました (past polite) used instead of the plain 聞いた?
The sentence is in the polite です/ます style, so 聞きました matches that register. In casual speech or writing, you could say 聞いた instead, but here the speaker maintains a polite tone.
Why is は used after 母 instead of the subject marker が?
Using 母は sets “mother” as the topic of the sentence—what we’re talking about. It implies “As for my mother…” and then describes what she did. が would simply mark her as a new or specific subject, shifting the nuance to “it was mother who…,” which is less common when introducing someone already known in the context.
Why isn’t there an explicit subject before 注ぎながら or 聞きました?
Once you’ve established 母は as the topic, all following verb phrases refer back to that topic. Japanese often omits repeated subjects when they’re understood from context.
What’s the difference between 「大丈夫？」 and 「大丈夫ですか？」?
「大丈夫？」 is casual and common in spoken or informal writing. ですか adds politeness and formality: 「大丈夫ですか？」 would be used in more formal situations or with people you’re not close to.
Can the adverbial phrase 紅茶を注ぎながら appear elsewhere in the sentence?
Adverbial phrases in Japanese are flexible, but word order affects naturalness. You could say 母は（自分で）紅茶を注ぎながら「大丈夫？」と聞きました, or even 紅茶を注ぎながら母は「大丈夫？」と聞きました, but the original order keeps the simultaneous-action nuance clear and flows most naturally.