FREE N4 READING · RETURNING A LOST UMBRELLA
戻ってきた青い傘
The Blue Umbrella Comes Back
Read once, check the English, then switch style and reread. Dotted words open help, which closes when you scroll or tap outside.
昨日、駅で電車を待っている間、買ったばかりの大きな青いをベンチに置きました。
友達から電話がかかってきて、話しながら電車にったので、を忘れてしまいました。
次の駅で気がつきましたが、と、母としたの時間にれそうでした。
母に電話をすると、母は「大切ななら、今取りにったほうがいいよ」と言いました。
駅にと、ベンチにはなく、私は困ってさんに青いのことを聞きました。
すると、近くにいた女の人が、忘れ物だとってそのを届けてくれていました。
青いのを説明すると、さんは「これですね」と言って、奥からを持ってきました。
私はさんにを言って、今度はをしっかり持ち、母が待っている家へ帰りました。
Read for meaning
私が駅にったのは、何をするためですか。
English translation
Yesterday, while I was waiting for a train at the station, I put my newly bought large blue umbrella on a bench. A friend called, and I boarded the train while talking, so I accidentally left my umbrella behind. I realized this at the next station, but if I went back, I looked likely to be late for the dinner I had arranged with my mother. When I called her, she said, “If it is an important umbrella, you should go back and get it now.” When I returned to the station, the umbrella was not on the bench, so I was worried and asked a station attendant about it. It turned out that a woman who had been nearby had thought someone had left it behind and handed it in for me. When I described the blue umbrella’s shape, the attendant said, “This is the one, right?” and brought it from the back. I thanked the attendant and went home, where my mother was waiting, holding tightly to my umbrella this time.
Useful vocabulary
- umbrella
- to forget; to leave behind
- to go back; to return
- dinner
- station attendant
- to deliver; to hand in
- shape
- thanks; an expression of gratitude
Grammar in context · to end up doing something unintentionally, often with regret
～てしまう
Attach しまう to a verb’s te-form. In this sentence, the past polite form てしまいました presents leaving the umbrella behind as an unintended, regrettable result. The plain past form is てしまった. This construction can also express completion in other contexts.
友達から電話がかかってきて、話しながら電車にったので、を忘れてしまいました。
ALSO NOTICE · A SECOND USEFUL PATTERN
～たばかりhave just done something
買ったばかり describes the umbrella as newly bought. The た-form plus ばかり marks a recent action from the speaker's perspective, not an exact time limit. The story does not say precisely when the purchase happened.
FROM THIS STORY · POLITE
昨日、駅で電車を待っている間、買ったばかりの大きな青いをベンチに置きました。English: Yesterday, while I was waiting for a train at the station, I put my newly bought large blue umbrella on a bench.
Compare styles: 買ったばかりの stays unchanged before the umbrella description; 置きました becomes 置いた.