Questions regarding the various words, particles, inflections, and constructions employed to negate a word or sentence from its positive form.
10
votes
2answers
199 views
苦労せん is the contracted form of what?
I'm translating a manga in which one character use a very slangy or contracted way of speaking while the others talk more standard-like.
I've already encountered the stem+ん as a short form the ...
5
votes
2answers
203 views
Which verb receives a negation in a Japanese sentence?
I can say 歩いて渡る which translates to "to cross by walking". However, if I would like to say "I am not going to cross by walking, but by some other means", would I say
歩かないで渡る or 歩いて渡らない?
There are ...
6
votes
1answer
384 views
Use of 〜ないものか with もうすこし／どうにか／なんとか
Do the following expressions:
(もうすこし）上手にでき ないものか
I wish I could get a bit better.
(どうにか）直せ ないものか
I wish I could somehow fix it.
(なんとか）でき ないものか
I wish we could somehow do ...
5
votes
2answers
104 views
Help to understand the ending verb “動かねーんじゃね”
Original sentence: アドビやら、お絵描き系のアプリは、誰かが実証しない限り、動かねーんじゃね？
I can't understand the structure of the last verb. So far I understood that 動か(conjugated form) + ねー(negative particle) + んじゃ(???) + ね(question ...
14
votes
2answers
284 views
Why is it なさそう and not なそう
"It seems there is none" is なさそう, which escapes the usual rule for 形容詞 (イ-adjectives), which says "drop the い and add そう".
Is there a historical explanation for this exception? And does it have ...
15
votes
3answers
820 views
The reality of answering いいえ to a negative question
tl;dr: when answering a negative question, can いいえ be used to affirm what the question states as a whole?
I came to Japan at the age of six, and I guess I pass as a normal native speaker of Japanese ...
2
votes
2answers
95 views
Negated questions
I am not sure what the response to the following question would be.
今のオリンピックは勝ち負けを気にするあまり、スポーツマンシップという大切なものをなくしているのではないか。
I am thinking it might be
はい、なくしている。
but then again with the ...
23
votes
7answers
940 views
Difference between negative forms {-ず} and {-ぬ}
{-ず} and {-ぬ} are two alternatives to the negative form {-ない} / {-ません}. But I noticed that depending on the word, it's either {-ず} or {-ぬ}, although it seems like some words can take both suffixes. ...
9
votes
4answers
558 views
In what way is the negative form of a verb an adjective?
I was reading the wikipedia page on "predicate," where it mentioned that in Japanese, the negative form of a verb is an adjective. I thought that this was too expansive a statement to be true, but ...
1
vote
1answer
135 views
use of word suffixes with 事
In this sentence I've a some doubts"自分 の 事し 考えぬ には、この 氷 は 溶かせない" I think a translation would be" Think to yourself of this matter of you, this ice never will melt" But it's just a guess. I can ...
4
votes
2answers
152 views
不被下候: When was it common, and what were the rules?
In a shrine graffito written in 1559, two carpenters complain:
其時座主ハ大キナコスデオチヤリテ一度モ焼酎ヲ不被下候
'At that time, the high priest (stingy bugger!) gave us not even a drop of shochu to drink.'
The form ...
3
votes
1answer
155 views
Meaning and usage of suffix -まい
According to the WWWJDIC, the verbal suffix まい can mean:
(1) probably isn't (doesn't, won't, etc.)
(2) don't (doesn't) intend to; intend not to
(3) must not; (when used in an imperative ...
10
votes
1answer
315 views
ないで vs なくて How to correlate two or more phrases with negative verbs
Can you use -なくて instead of -ないで in the following sentence, keeping the same meaning? What's the difference between ないで and なくて ?
病気になると、一切化学薬品や抗生物質を使わないで、鍼や指圧や漢方薬で直します。風邪の時は何もしないで暖かくして、寝ているだけです。
7
votes
1answer
241 views
6
votes
1answer
561 views
Difference between ~なきゃ and ~なくちゃ
I know what one of them is なくてはいけません and the other one なければなりません, I just don't know which is which, also a few example sentences would help a lot, thank you.
0
votes
1answer
294 views
What does いなきゃ mean? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Difference between ~なきゃ and ~なくちゃ
What does いなきゃ mean?
thanks in advance
7
votes
1answer
211 views
When is it appropriate to use [v] ないでくれ instead of [v] な?
Initially I wanted to compare the rudeness level of [v]ないでくれ。 and[v]な。 but since that may be a rather vague question:
In what situation is it appropriate to use [v]ないでくれ。 but not [v]な。 ?
In what ...
8
votes
3answers
317 views
What's the difference between 言わないでほしい and 言ってほしくない
What's the difference between 言わないでほしい and 言ってほしくない ?
If the intended message is "I don't want you to say it" which of the two above would be more suitable?
7
votes
2answers
295 views
What is the difference between 言うな！ and 言ってんじゃねぇぞ?
1) What is the difference between 言うな！ and 言ってんじゃねぇぞ!, in other words can we use them interchangeably at all times?
2) which is ruder?
6
votes
2answers
538 views
Why do we use 〜ないで instead of 〜なくて before auxiliary ください?
I was taught in college that the 〜ない verb conjugation behaves like an i-adjective, thus it has 〜く form, it takes 〜ければ for "if" scenario, it modifies the noun that follows it etc. Also, I know that the ...
6
votes
3answers
476 views
What does “+ra shinai” conjugation mean?
In episode 76 of Fairy Tail, Gildarts said this to Natsu:
本気でそう思ったら、止めらしないよ。 (honki de sou omottara, tomera shinai yo)
Which was translated in the subtitle as:
If that's what you honestly ...
10
votes
2answers
263 views
About the な part in negative imperative verb form (e.g. 飲むな)
In the Japanese version of "don't drink and drive" slogan, 【乗るなら飲むな】 (also 【飲んだら乗るな】), what part of speech is the な that follows the plain verb 飲む (or 乗る in the second variation) to form the negative ...
26
votes
4answers
2k views
Is じゃないです equally correct as じゃありません?
Text books normally teach that the negative of です is じゃありません.
However it seems very common to hear native Japanese use じゃないです.
Is this slang or somehow less correct than じゃありません?
Would it be marked ...
5
votes
1answer
164 views
Is this は or はいる: ～わかってはいるものの
たばこは体に悪いとわかってはいるものの、なかなかやめられない。
If it's は, does omitting は change the meaning in verb-te~はいる? And also, could you talk about what いる is doing?
If it's はいる, in what sense would you describe はいる's ...
4
votes
4answers
308 views
Is it unusual to have the ga particle with a negative verb?
In saying that something doesn't exist, is it unusual to use the ga particle (が) and a negative verb? For example, would "(Uchi ni) Terebi ga arimasen" be an unusual way to say "There isn't a TV (at ...
7
votes
1answer
173 views
Does it make sense to say [v]ませんでしたら instead of [v]なかったら?
I'm wondering whether it makes sense to say [v]ませんでしたら instead of [v]なかったら.
When I googled for that conjugation there were very few results, but since there were results, I wonder if people actually ...
12
votes
4answers
314 views
To not have: 持っていません or ありません？
Whenever I go to the Life supermarket near my house, they ask me at the check out:
ライフカードを持っていますか？ (Do you have a Life
[members] card?)
I always respond with something like:
いいえ、持っていません。
...
13
votes
2answers
444 views
The reason for using 何も+negative, but 何でも+positive
In one of the Japanese classes I attended, I've been taught that while we use 「何も出来ない」to say "He cannot do anything", to say "He can do anything" we use 「何でも出来る」 instead of 「何も出来る」.
Why is there a ...
17
votes
5answers
770 views
Does -ou / -you / -mashou conjugation have a negative form?
Does the -ou / -you / -mashou (the "let's X") form have a negative counterpart? For example, how do I say "let's not X" for the following?:
行こう
食べよう
寝ましょう
As far as I can remember, the Japanese ...
11
votes
1answer
224 views
Why is the topic marker often used in negative statements (ではない, ～とは思わない)?
What function does は provide in statements such as 本ではない or 本だとは思わない? I notice the は after と is often left out, at least if a Google search for 思わない is any indication, but there still seems to be a ...
