Breakdown of otouto to imouto dake de rusuban wo site iru uti ni, watasi no karesi ga sasiire no piza wo motte kite kurete, minna yorokobimasita.
Questions & Answers about otouto to imouto dake de rusuban wo site iru uti ni, watasi no karesi ga sasiire no piza wo motte kite kurete, minna yorokobimasita.
The people doing 留守番 (staying home / minding the house) are 弟と妹.
- 弟と妹だけで留守番をしているうちに
literally: “while only my younger brother and sister are doing 留守番”
Because of だけで, it implies the brother and sister are at home by themselves, without the speaker or parents. The speaker is treating them as a separate group, and the boyfriend comes to them with pizza.
So the implied structure is:
- 弟と妹だけで [留守番をしている] うちに…
- “While (they) were home alone…”
The subject “弟と妹” is shared by 留守番をしている; the speaker is not included in that action.
Here, だけで after 弟と妹 means:
“with only my younger brother and sister (and nobody else) / just the two of them (by themselves)”
Breakdown:
- だけ = “only”
- で = here marks the composition of a group or the “means / members” involved
(similar to “３人で行く” = “go with three people”)
So:
- 弟と妹だけで留守番をしている
= “(they) are doing 留守番 with just the younger brother and sister (no adults, no one else).”
Compare:
- 弟と妹だけが留守番をしている
= “Only the younger brother and sister are doing 留守番 (no one else is doing that job).”
This focuses on who is doing the action, not on “by themselves” nuance.
In this sentence, だけで naturally conveys “they were home alone, just the two of them,” which fits the context better than だけが.
- 留守番をする is the standard way to make the verb “to mind the house / to stay at home” from the noun 留守番 (るすばん).
- In conversation, people often drop the を and say 留守番している, which is also fine and common.
- 留守番だ would mean more like “(they) are the ones on house-sitting duty,” describing a state, and is less natural in this time-clause structure.
The form here:
- 留守番をしている = “are doing 留守番” / “are in the middle of house-sitting”
The 〜ている expresses a continuous action/state — being in the situation of staying home — which is exactly what you want before うちに (“while…”).
In this sentence, 〜うちに means:
“while (a certain state is true) / during the time when…”
So:
- 留守番をしているうちに
= “while they were (in the state of) staying home / during the time they were home alone”
Nuance differences:
- うちに
- Focuses on “during the period when a situation holds, before it changes.”
- Often used with states that are expected to end: 若いうちに, 雨が降らないうちに, etc.
- 間 (あいだ)
- More neutral “during the time when…”, often for a span that simply lasts.
- 留守番をしている間に would also be possible and natural, just a bit more neutral.
- とき (時)
- “when / at the time (that) …”
- 留守番をしているときに = “when they were doing 留守番”
So all of these are grammatically possible; うちに here slightly emphasizes “during that period when they were home alone (before that situation ended).”
Using が here marks 私の彼氏 as the subject / doer of the action being introduced:
- 私の彼氏が差し入れのピザを持って来てくれて
= “my boyfriend (is the one who) brought the pizza…”
If you said 私の彼氏は, it would make him the topic:
- 私の彼氏は差し入れのピザを持って来てくれて…
= “As for my boyfriend, he brought pizza as a treat, and…”
That’s not wrong, but:
- が feels more natural when you’re reporting an event and introducing the subject who did it.
- は often implies contrast (“he did, but maybe others didn’t”) or that he’s already a well-established topic in the conversation.
So が is preferred here to highlight “he’s the one who did this nice thing.”
差し入れ is more specific than a general “present”:
- It’s something (often food or drink) brought to people who are working, on duty, or otherwise busy, to support or cheer them up.
- Common contexts:
- Bringing snacks to colleagues working late
- Bringing drinks or food to a sports team during practice
- Bringing treats to friends who are studying, rehearsing, etc.
So 差し入れのピザ is:
“pizza as a treat / refreshment brought for them (as support),”
not just any random gift. It carries a nuance of thoughtful support while someone is doing something.
差し入れのピザ literally means:
- “pizza that is a 差し入れ”
→ “pizza (given) as a treat / refreshment”
Here の links 差し入れ (a noun) with ピザ (another noun), where 差し入れ is describing what kind of pizza it is (its role).
- 差し入れの + N = “N that serves as a 差し入れ”
You can say things like 差し入れコーヒー in casual speech, but the の makes it standard, clearer Japanese:
- 差し入れのピザ (standard, natural)
- 差し入れピザ (feels more like a coined label or shorthand)
A different but related pattern is:
- ピザの差し入れ
= “a 差し入れ of pizza” (focus on the act of 差し入れ)
While:
- 差し入れのピザ
= “the pizza that was the 差し入れ” (focus on the pizza as an item)
Both are possible; the sentence just happens to choose the latter.
This part is:
- 差し入れのピザを持って来てくれて
- 持って来る = “to bring (toward here / toward us)”
- 〜てくれる = “do ~ for me / for us” (benefactive)
So:
- 持って来てくれて
= “(he) brought (it) for us (and we feel thankful / benefited).”
Why not just:
来てくれて
- This would mean “he came for us / did us the favor of coming,”
- but it wouldn’t say what he brought. The focus here is on the pizza as 差し入れ, so 持って来てくれて is needed.
持って来ました
- Grammatically okay, but it’s more neutral: “he brought (it).”
- It doesn’t include the benefactive nuance of くれる.
- Also, the pattern 〜てくれて、みんな喜びました is a very natural cause-result link:
- “He did X for us, and (as a result) everyone was happy.”
So 持って来てくれて packages:
- the action (brought it here),
- the direction (toward us),
- and the benefit / kindness (for our sake).
All three convey “being happy,” but with slightly different flavors:
喜びました (from 喜ぶ, a verb)
- More like “(they) rejoiced / were delighted.”
- Feels like a reaction or event: they heard/saw the pizza and reacted with joy.
- Slightly more formal or “written” than 嬉しかった, but very common in narration.
嬉しかった
- From the adjective 嬉しい.
- Focuses on their emotional state: “they were happy.”
- Often feels a bit more personal/subjective.
喜んでいました
- Past progressive from 喜ぶ.
- Emphasizes a continuing state: “they were happy (for some time).”
In this sentence:
- みんな喜びました fits a concise narrative:
“he brought the pizza, and everyone (instantly/clearly) reacted with joy.”
Spoken and even written Japanese often omits particles when the meaning is clear.
- みんな喜びました
= “Everyone was happy / Everyone rejoiced.”
Here, みんな is functioning as the subject, and you can think of it as shorthand for:
- みんなが喜びました.
You could say:
- みんなが喜びました
→ perfectly natural, slightly more explicit.
Using みんなは喜びました is also possible, but:
- は gives a topical or contrastive nuance:
- “As for everyone, they were happy (maybe in contrast to someone else).”
In this neutral “everyone was happy” statement, particle omission or が are both natural; the original sentence simply omits it for brevity.
You could rephrase, but the nuance shifts slightly.
Original:
- 差し入れのピザを持って来てくれて
- Focus: “the pizza (which was a 差し入れ) was brought for us.”
- Emphasizes the item: pizza as a treat.
Alternative:
- ピザを差し入れしてくれて
- Here 差し入れする is used as a verb.
- Focus: the act of 差し入れ (treating us) with pizza as the object.
You could also say:
- ピザを差し入れに持って来てくれて
- literally: “(he) brought pizza as a 差し入れ for us.”
All are grammatical:
- The original sounds very natural and a bit smoother.
- Using 差し入れのピザ is a compact way to label the pizza as “pizza that was a 差し入れ.”
Yes, it’s consistent; this is normal Japanese sentence structure.
- In Japanese, only the final main verb (or copula) of the sentence needs to carry the politeness level and tense.
- Earlier verbs are often in:
- dictionary form (している, 来る, etc.),
- or 〜て form (来て, くれて),
and they inherit the overall time frame and politeness from the final verb.
In this sentence:
- 留守番をしているうちに (non-past している, but understood as the background state in the past)
- 持って来てくれて (て-form, linking to the next clause)
- みんな喜びました (polite past; sets the sentence in polite past narrative)
So the entire event is in the past, told in polite style, and this is exactly how Japanese normally organizes long sentences.