Meeting the in laws again (Advanced): Health and well-being

💬 何より literally means "more than anything". It's a set reply whenever someone shares good news about their health.

🇯🇵 A careful cushion before asking something personal, like what illness someone had. With in-laws it signals respect and gives them room to decline.

💬 胆石 is read (tanseki), built from 胆 "gallbladder" and 石 "stone".

💬 もの after a describing word means "things that are...": 甘いもの (amai mono) "sweet things", 辛いもの (karai mono) "spicy things".

🇯🇵 It's the gentle, standard word doctors and relatives use for diet advice, softer than "quit". お酒を控える "cut back on alcohol" is a common line.

🇯🇵 The word also covers the gift you bring, often fruit or sweets. Potted plants are avoided because "rooting" suggests a long hospital stay.

💬 遣わせる is the "make someone do" form of 遣う: 気を遣う means "to be considerate", so this means "making you be considerate on my account".

💬 The added ね softens the apology and invites agreement, making it feel warm rather than formal.

🇯🇵 Receiving a gift often triggers an apology rather than just thanks. It acknowledges the burden on the giver and is the normal gracious response.

💬 いただく is the humble verb for receiving. The ending わ gives it a soft tone, typical of older women's speech.

💬 は here is said (wa), not (ha), and it sets "next time" as the frame for what follows.

💬 果物 is read (kudamono), a special reading you can't guess from the separate kanji.

💬 にする means "to go with / choose": コーヒーにします "I'll have coffee".

💬 寝てる is a casual shortening of 寝ている, the "-ing" form, and is common in speech.

🇯🇵 In-laws asking this is a caring check-in, not prying. A modest, honest answer goes over better than a brushed-off "fine".

💬 不足 means "shortage" and attaches to nouns: 運動不足 (undō-busoku) "lack of exercise". Notice the sound shifts to (busoku).

💬 気味 (gimi) after a noun means "a touch of": 風邪気味 (kaze-gimi) "a slight cold".

🇯🇵 Saying you should follow an elder's example, for instance about healthy habits, is a warm compliment to in-laws.

💬 資本 means "capital" as in money for business. The saying treats your body as what everything else runs on.

💬 だから means "because", and ending a sentence with it gives the sense of "after all".

💬 上がる means "go up", and here it means stepping up from the entryway into the house.

🇯🇵 Shoes come off in the entryway before you step up, so wait until you've removed them.

💬 The お is a polite prefix. In daily speech 茶 alone is rare, so お茶 is just the normal word.

💬 淹れる (ireru) is the special kanji for brewing tea or coffee. The particle を is dropped, as is common in casual speech.

🇯🇵 Offering tea marks the visit settling into relaxed chat. It's polite to accept rather than refuse.

💬 邪魔 (jama) on its own means "a nuisance, something in the way," so you're literally saying "I'm going to be a bother." Switch the ending to past tense when you leave: お邪魔しました "sorry for having intruded."

🇯🇵 Say this as you step up from the entryway into someone's home, even a relative's. In-laws will notice if you walk in without it, and it sets a polite tone before you hand over your gift.

💬 では (dewa) is the polite form of じゃあ (jā) "well then." Use では with in-laws and じゃあ with friends.

🇯🇵 This is usually a reply to the host's どうぞ "please, come in." Wait for that invitation at the door rather than heading straight inside.