Beginning Japanese for Professionals: Book 3

37 ＋ chigau ちがう 違う is different; is wrong (an U-verb: chigaimasu, chigawanai, chigatta : chigau namae ‘ different name’) mottai nai もったいない wasteful; sacrilegious x de mo X でも even X nan demo なんでも 何でも anything risaikuru リサイクル recycle Grammar Notes 10-3-1 Expressing Prohibition ‘Must not’ The /X~ te + wa / pattern proposes a condition ‘if you do X’. When followed by ikenai/ ikemasen ‘it cannot go’ or ‘it won’t do’, it expresses prohibition ‘it’s no good if you do X’ or ‘you must not do X’. Sutete wa ikemasen . It’s no good if you throw it away. Shashin o totte wa ikenai . It’s no good if you take pictures. In addition to ikenai , other negative expressions such as dame, yoku nai , shitsurei , etc. sometimes follow the /~ te wa / pattern. Mada mite wa dame . You must not look yet. Osoku denwa-shite wa shitsurei desu. It’s rude to call late. In casual speech, the following sound contractions often occur: / te wa / à / cha(a) / and / de wa / à / ja(a) / sute te wa ikenai à sute cha(a) ikenai You must not throw it away. non de wa ikenai à non ja(a) ikenai You must not drink it. Note that permission and prohibition are the ‘yin and yang’ of the rule, so to speak. In many contexts, the /~ te mo ii / and /~ te wa ikenai / express opposite sides of the same rule. Tabako suttee mo ii desu ka. May I smoke? -Iya, sutte wa ikemasen. No, you mustn’t. Be aware that prohibiting someone from doing something may be rude in some situations. Use more indirect patterns in such cases including chotto , sumimasen kedo …, and negative requests. Tabako suttee mo ii desu ka? May I smoke? -Chotto… -Anoo, sumimasen kedo…. -Sumimasen kedo, suwanai de itadakemasen ka. -Moushiwake arimasen kedo, goenryo kudasaimasen ka.