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How would you go about saying you "stopped wearing" something? I'm trying to say "I stopped wearing uniforms at X high school." and I'm incredibly tripped up by how to put verbs into this sentence.

I know how to say I was wearing something (「...きました。」) and that I wasn't wearing something (「...きませんでした。」), but I cant quite figure out how to say "stopped wearing".

Is 「Xこうこうでユニフォームをきるのをとまりました。」 correct?

2 Answers 2

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Is 「Xこうこうでユニフォームをきるのをとまりました。」 correct?

No, it is not though it was a nice try. Why not?

Mostly because you used 「とまる」, which is an intransitive verb. You can never say 「~~とまる」. (You must say 「~~をとる」 as 「とめる」 is transitive.)

In this context, however, 「やめる」 would be a far more natural verb choice than 「とめる」. You can say:

「Xこうこうではユニフォームをきるのをやめました。」

More naturally, we would use 「制服{せいふく}」 over 「ユニフォーム」, but that has nothing to do with grammar.

Advanced learners would need to know to say:

「X高校{こうこう}では制服を廃止{はいし}しました。」

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  • "I stopped wearing uniforms at X high school." と "They stopped wearing uniforms at X high school." とでは日本語訳が異なりませんか?
    – user20624
    Nov 30, 2017 at 0:51
  • The latter is like saying "They got rid of uniforms at X high school." I believe やめる you can only use with single subjects "I, him", as well as "we". It's not right to use it to describe a corporation's actions.
    – Rimilel
    Nov 30, 2017 at 17:31
  • using 廃止 sounds wrong to me - doesn't that indicate that the school took a decision to get rid of uniforms (for everyone), ie to abolish the use of uniforms? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the OP seems to be saying that he/she took a personal decision to stop wearing a uniform.
    – kandyman
    Nov 30, 2017 at 18:05
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I stopped wearing uniforms at X high school.

Although the above sentence given by the questioner should have only one meaning, since my understanding of English is insufficient, I understand it as the following two possible meanings.

Apart from the intention of the questioner, I'll try to present natural Japanese for each of these two interpretations.

Interpretation 1:

I am an authoritative person who can change the rules of this high school like the principal. So, I decided to change school rules and abolish the students' uniforms or teachers' uniforms.
私{わたし}はX高校{こうこう}の(生徒{せいと}または教職員{きょうしょくいん}の)制服{せいふく}着用{ちゃくよう}を廃止{はいし}した。

Interpretation 2:

I am a student of X High School. In school rules, you are free to wear uniforms or wear plain clothes or casual clothes at school. I had been wearing uniforms until recently, but I decided to go to school with plain clothes.
私{わたし}はX高校{こうこう}に制服{せいふく}で行{い}くことをやめた。

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