In life, there are things that we must or must not do whether it’s taking out the trash or doing our homework. We will cover how to say this in Japanese because it is a useful expression and it also ties in well with the previous section. We will also learn how to the say the expression, “You don’t have to…” to finish off this section.<\/p>\n
If you’re not familiar with the word \u300c\u3060\u3081<\/span>\u300d\uff08\u99c4\u76ee<\/span>\uff09, though it can be used in many different ways it essentially means “no good”. The other two key words in this section are \u300c\u3044\u3051\u306a\u3044<\/span>\u300d and \u300c\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044\u300d and they have essentially the same basic meaning as \u300c\u3060\u3081<\/span>\u300d. However, while \u300c\u3044\u3051\u306a\u3044<\/span>\u300d can be used by itself, \u300c\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044\u300d must only be used in the grammar presented here. In addition, while \u300c\u3044\u3051\u306a\u3044<\/span>\u300d and \u300c\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044\u300d conjugate like i-adjectives they are not actual adjectives. Let’s learn how to use these words to express things that must not be done.<\/p>\n The difference between \u300c\u3060\u3081<\/span>\u300d\u3001\u300c\u3044\u3051\u306a\u3044<\/span>\u300d\u3001and \u300c\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044\u300d is that, first of all, \u300c\u3060\u3081<\/span>\u300d is casual. While \u300c\u3044\u3051\u306a\u3044<\/span>\u300d and \u300c\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044\u300d are basically identical, \u300c\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044\u300d is generally more for things that apply to more than one person like rules and policies.<\/p>\n You may have predicted that the opposite of “You must not do” would use \u300c\u3044\u3051\u308b<\/span>\u300d or \u300c\u306a\u308b<\/span>\u300d because they look like the positive version of \u300c\u3044\u3051\u306a\u3044<\/span>\u300d and \u300c\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044\u300d. However, \u300c\u3044\u3051\u306a\u3044<\/span>\u300d and \u300c\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044\u300d must always be negative, so this is not correct. In actuality, we still use the same \u300c\u3060\u3081<\/span>\uff0f\u3044\u3051\u306a\u3044<\/span>\uff0f\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044\u300d and use the opposite of the verb that goes in front of it instead. This double negative can be kind of confusing at first but you will get used to it with practice. There are three ways to conjugate the verb before adding \u300c\u3060\u3081<\/span>\uff0f\u3044\u3051\u306a\u3044<\/span>\uff0f\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044\u300d and two of them involve conditionals so aren’t you glad that you just learned conditionals in the previous section?<\/p>\n The first method is the same as the “must not do” grammar form except that we simply negated the verb.<\/p>\n The second method uses the natural conditional that we learned in the last lesson. Literally, it means if you don’t do something, then it automatically leads to the fact that it is no good. (In other words, you must do it.) However, people tend to use it for situations beyond the natural consequence characterization that we learned from the last section because it’s shorter and easier to use than the other two types of grammar.<\/p>\n The third method is similar to the second except that it uses a different type of conditional as explained in the last lesson. With the \u300c\u3070\u300d conditional, it can be used for a wider range of situations. Note that since the verb is always negative, for the \u300c\u3070\u300d conditional, we will always be removing the last \u300c\u3044\u300d and adding \u300c\u3051\u308c\u3070\u300d.<\/p>\n It may seem like I just breezed through a whole lot of material because there are three grammar forms and \u300c\u3060\u3081<\/span>\uff0f\u3044\u3051\u306a\u3044<\/span>\uff0f\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044\u300d adding up to nine possible combinations (3×3). However, some combinations are more common than others but I did not explicitly point out which were more common because any combination is technically correct and going over style would merely confuse at this point. Also, keep in mind that there is nothing essentially new in terms of conjugation rules. We already covered conditionals in the last lesson and adding the wa particle to the te-form in the beginning of this section.<\/p>\n Although we spent the last section explaining \u300c\uff5e\u306a\u3051\u308c\u3070\u300d and \u300c\uff5e\u306a\u304f\u3066\u306f\u300d, the reality is that because they are so long, they are practically never used in real conversations. While they are often used in a written context, in actual speech, people usually use the \u300c\u3068\u300d conditional or the various shortcuts described below. In casual speech, the \u300c\u3068\u300d conditional is the most prevalent type of conditional. Though I explained in depth the meaning associated with the \u300c\u3068\u300d conditional, you have to take it with a grain of salt here because people are inherently lazy.<\/p>\n You may have been grumbling and complaining about how long most of the expressions are just to say you must do something. You can end up with up to eight additional syllables just to say “I have to…”!<\/p>\n Well, others have thought the same before and people usually use short abbreviated versions of \u300c\u306a\u304f\u3066\u306f\u300d and \u300c\u306a\u3051\u308c\u3070\u300d in casual speech. Teachers are often reluctant to teach these overly familiar expressions because they are so much easier to use which is bad for times when they might not be appropriate. But, on the other hand, if you don’t learn casual expressions, it makes it difficult to understand your friends (or would-be friends if you only knew how to speak less stiffly!). So here they are but take care to properly practice the longer forms so that you will be able to use them for the appropriate occasions.<\/p>\n Right now, you may be saying, “What the?” because the “abbreviations” are about the same length as what we’ve already covered. The secret here is that, unlike the expressions we learned so far, you can just leave the \u300c\u3060\u3081<\/span>\uff0f\u3044\u3051\u306a\u3044<\/span>\uff0f\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044\u300d part out altogether!<\/p>\n The \u300c\u3068\u300d conditional is also used by itself to imply \u300c\u3060\u3081<\/span>\uff0f\u3044\u3051\u306a\u3044<\/span>\uff0f\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044\u300d.<\/p>\n There is another \u300c\u3061\u3083\u300d abbreviation for things that you must not do<\/u>. However, in this case, you cannot leave out \u300c\u3060\u3081<\/span>\uff0f\u3044\u3051\u306a\u3044<\/span>\uff0f\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044\u300d. Since this is<\/i> a casual abbreviation, \u300c\u3060\u3081<\/span>\u300d is used in most cases.<\/p>\n One very important difference for this casual form is that verbs that end in \u300c\u3080\u300d\u3001\u300c\u3076\u300d\u3001\u300c\u306c\u300d use \u300c\u3058\u3083\u300d instead of \u300c\u3061\u3083\u300d. Essentially, all the verbs that end in \u300c\u3093\u3060\u300d for past tense fall in this category.<\/p>\n On a final note, in general, \u300c\u3061\u3083\u300d sounds a bit cutesy or girly. You’ve already seen an example of this with the \u300c\u3061\u3083\u3093\u300d suffix. Similarly, \u300c\u306a\u304f\u3061\u3083\u300d also sounds a bit cutesy or childish.<\/p>\n Now let’s learn how to say either that it’s ok to do or not do something. I decided to shove this section in here because in Japanese, this is essential how to say that you don’t have to something (by saying it’s ok to not do it). The grammar itself is also relatively easy to pick up and makes for a short section.<\/p>\n By simply using the te-form and the \u300c\u3082\u300d particle, you are essentially saying, “even if you do X…” Common words that come after this include \u300c\u3044\u3044<\/span>\u300d, \u300c\u5927\u4e08\u592b<\/span>\u300d, or \u300c\u69cb\u308f\u306a\u3044<\/span>\u300d. Some examples will come in handy.<\/p>\n In casual speech, \u300c\uff5e\u3066\u3082\u3044\u3044<\/span>\u300d sometimes get shortened to just \u300c\uff5e\u3066\u3044\u3044<\/span>\u300d \uff08or \u300c\uff5e\u3067\u3044\u3044<\/span>\u300d instead of \u300c\uff5e\u3067\u3082\u3044\u3044<\/span>\u300d \uff09.<\/p>\n When there’s something that must or must not be done In life, there are things that we must or must not do whether it’s taking out the trash or doing our homework. We will cover how to say this in Japanese because it is a useful expression and it also ties in well with the … <\/p>\n\n
\nExample
\n\u5165\u308b<\/span> \u2192 \u5165\u3063\u3066<\/span> + \u306f + \u3060\u3081<\/span>\uff0f\u3044\u3051\u306a\u3044<\/span>\uff0f\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044 = \u5165\u3063\u3066<\/span>\u306f\u3060\u3081<\/span>\uff0f\u5165\u3063\u3066<\/span>\u306f\u3044\u3051\u306a\u3044<\/span>\uff0f\u5165\u3063\u3066<\/span>\u306f\u306a\u3089\u306a\u3044<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n
\nYou must not enter here.<\/li>\n
\nYou can’t (must not) eat that!<\/li>\n
\nYou must not use the phone until late at night.<\/li>\n
\nWasn’t allowed to sleep early.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nExpressing things that must be done<\/h2>\n
Vocabulary<\/h3>\n
\n
\n
\n
\nMust go to school everyday.<\/li>\n
\nHad to do homework.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n
\nMust go to school everyday.<\/li>\n
\nHave to do homework.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n
\nMust go to school everyday.<\/li>\n
\nHad to do homework.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\u203b Reality Check<\/h3>\n
Various short-cuts for the lazy<\/h2>\n
Vocabulary<\/h3>\n
\n
\n
\n
\nGotta study.<\/li>\n
\nGotta eat.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n
\nGotta go to school.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\n
\nYou can’t enter here.<\/li>\nSaying something is ok to do or not do<\/h2>\n
Vocabulary<\/h3>\n
\n
\n
\nYou can go ahead and eat it all. (lit: Even if you eat it all, it’s good, you know.)<\/li>\n
\nYou don’t have to eat it all. (lit: Even if you don’t eat it all, it’s good, you know.)<\/li>\n
\nIt’s ok if you drink it all. (lit: Even if you drink it all, it’s OK, you know.)<\/li>\n
\nI don’t mind if you drink it all. (lit: Even if you drink it all, I don’t mind, you know.)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n
\nCan I go home already?<\/li>\n
\nCan I take a quick look at this?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"