We learned in a previous lesson that the volitional form is used when one is set out to do something. In this section, we’re going to cover some other ways in which the volitional form is used, most notably, the negative volitional form.<\/p>\n
You may have seen the negative volitional form in a verb conjugation table and wondered, “What the heck is that used for?” Well the answer is not much, or to put it more accurately, there are various ways it can be used but almost all of them are extremely stiff and formal. In fact, it’s so rare that I only found one explanation<\/a> in English on the web or anywhere else. (I also found this one<\/a> in Japanese.)<\/p>\n The negative volitional is used to express negative intention. This means that there is a will for something to not<\/b> happen or that someone is set out to not<\/b> do something. As a result, because one is trying not to do something, it’s probably not going to happen. Essentially, it is a very stiff and formal version of \u300c\u3067\u3057\u3087\u3046\u300d and \u300c\u3060\u308d\u3046\u300d. While this form is practically never used in daily conversations, you might still hear it in movies, etc.<\/p>\n Verbs are conjugated to the negative volitional by simply attaching \u300c\u307e\u3044\u300d to the verb. Another alternative is to attach \u300c\u307e\u3044\u300d to the stem. The conjugation for the negative volitional is quite different from those we are used to because it is always the last conjugation to apply even for the masu-form. There is no way to conjugate \u300c\u307e\u3044\u300d to the masu-form, you simply attach \u300c\u307e\u3044\u300d to the masu-form conjugation.<\/p>\n We already learned that you could use the volitional form to say “let’s” and to express an attempt do something. But that doesn’t mean you can use the negative volitional to say “let’s not” or “try not to”. The tone of this grammar is one of very strong determination to not do something, as you can see in the following examples.<\/p>\n In order to express “let’s not”, you can use the verb, \u300c\u3084\u3081\u308b\u300d with the regular volitional. In order to express an effort to not do something, you can use \u300c\u3088\u3046\u306b\u3059\u308b\u300d with the negative verb.<\/p>\n We will now learn a grammar that’s actually practical for everyday use using the negative volitional grammar. Basically, we can use both volitional and negative volitional forms to say it doesn’t matter whether something is going to happen or not. This is done by attaching \u300c\u304c\u300d to both the volitional and the negative volitional form of the verb that doesn’t matter.<\/p>\n We already found out that the negative volitional can be used as kind of a formal version of \u300c\u3067\u3057\u3087\u3046\u300d and \u300c\u3060\u308d\u3046\u300d. You may wonder, how would you do the same thing for the volitional? The answer is to conjugate the verb \u300c\u3042\u308b\u300d from the formal state-of-being \u300c\u3067\u3042\u308b\u300d to the volitional to produce \u300c\u3067\u3042\u308d\u3046\u300d. Remember \u300c\u3067\u3057\u3087\u3046\u300d can already be used as a polite form, so this form is even a step above that in formality. We’ll see what kind of language uses this form in the examples.<\/p>\n We learned in the lesson about formal grammar that \u300c\u3067\u306f\u306a\u3044\u300d was the negative of \u300c\u3067\u3042\u308b\u300d. So how would we say something like \u300c\u3067\u3042\u308d\u3046\u300d but for the negative? The answer is to use yet another type of volitional for negatives and i-adjectives used only in formal and literary contexts. You can think of this grammar as a very old-fashioned version for i-adjectives and negative \u300c\u3044\u300d endings.<\/p>\n The conjugation rule is simple: remove the last \u300c\u3044\u300d and attach \u300c\u304b\u308d\u3046\u300d. You can use it for negatives and i-adjectives just like the \u300c\u304b\u3063\u305f\u300d past conjugation form.<\/p>\n We learned in a previous lesson that the volitional form is used when one is set out to do something. In this section, we’re going to cover some other ways in which the volitional form is used, most notably, the negative volitional form. Negative Volitional Vocabulary \u898b\u308b \u3010\u307f\u30fb\u308b\u3011 (ru-verb) – to see \u884c\u304f \u3010\u3044\u30fb\u304f\u3011 (u-verb) … <\/p>\n\n
\nExample 1:\u3000\u898b\u308b \u2192 \u898b\u308b\u307e\u3044<\/em>
\nExample 2:\u3000\u898b\u308b<\/span> \u2192 \u898b\u307e\u3044<\/em><\/li>\n
\nExample: \u884c\u304f\u307e\u3044<\/em><\/li>\n\n
\nExample: \u306a\u308b<\/span><\/em> \u2192 \u306a\u308a<\/em> \u2192 \u306a\u308a\u307e\u3059<\/em> \u2192 \u306a\u308a\u307e\u3059\u307e\u3044<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\nExamples<\/h3>\n
\n
\nYour opponent is a master of the sword. I doubt you can win so easily.<\/li>\n
\nI won’t approve of such an unreasonable method\uff01<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n
\nUntil that time, I had decided in my heart to not meet him by any means.<\/li>\n
\nThat person had sworn to never lie again.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n
\nLet’s not go tomorrow. (lit: Let’s quit going tomorrow.)<\/li>\n
\nTrying not to eat meat.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nUsing the volitional to express a lack of relation<\/h2>\n
Vocabulary<\/h3>\n
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\n
\nExamples<\/p>\n\n
Examples<\/h3>\n
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\nWhether that guy is going to college or not, it has nothing to do with me.<\/li>\n
\nWhether there is time or not, there’s nothing to do but make it on time.<\/li>\n
\nThe viruses lately have been strong and whether you run a program or not, I hear it will spread just by looking at the page.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nUsing \u300c\u3067\u3042\u308d\u3046\u300d to express likelihood<\/h2>\n
Vocabulary<\/h3>\n
\n
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\nExamples<\/p>\n\n
Examples<\/h3>\n
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\nI would like to directly approach problems that humans have likely encounter<\/em> the next 50 years and while devising solutions, take that knowledge and think about scenarios that will become the next industry.<\/li>\n
\nOf course, setting up new courses of study will likely be difficult<\/em> with this period of decreasing student population but with reorganizations of occupational studies and courses within subjects, there is supposed to be demand for reform fit for this period.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nUsing \u300c\u304b\u308d\u3046\u300d as volitional for \u300c\u3044\u300d endings<\/h2>\n
Vocabulary<\/h3>\n
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\nExamples<\/p>\n\n
Examples<\/h3>\n
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\nIt’s not necessarily the case that sales go up just by selling any type of product on the net.<\/li>\n
\nWhether you start exercising early or late, the fact that it’s good for your health doesn’t change.<\/li>\n
\nWhether it’s a holiday or not, it looks like it doesn’t matter for this job.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"