Why can't use も or は in the following sentence:
易しい質問に答えられなくて(は・も)、とても恥ずかしかった。
In the case of ても, I was told it probably has to do with 逆条件.
Japanese Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Japanese language. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this communityWhy can't use も or は in the following sentence:
易しい質問に答えられなくて(は・も)、とても恥ずかしかった。
In the case of ても, I was told it probably has to do with 逆条件.
易しい質問に答えられなくては、とても恥ずかしかった。 The usage of negative-ては presents a specific case, which must be followed by a judgement/statement of inability. 恥ずかしかった is a personal feeling that has arisen as a result of not knowing the answer, not an objective judgement.
易しい質問に答えられなくても、とても恥ずかしかった。 When using a negative-ても, the clause following must present information that goes against the assumption upon hearing the first clause (as you wrote, we must have a 逆{ぎゃく}条件{じょうけん}, literally "opposite condition"). Since one would naturally assume that the subject would be 恥ずかしい because they cannot answer simple questions, the second clause does not satisfy as a 逆条件.
「易しい質問に答えられなくて、とても恥ずかしかった。」 Using neither は nor も is the most natural sounding for your meaning here. て connects the two clauses by saying "(the subject) could not answer simple question, and/so (subject) was embarrassed."
易しい質問に答えられなくては、大丈夫だよ。
という文は、おかしいです。「~~に答えられなくては 、大丈夫だよ」なんて言いません。「~~に答えられなくても大丈夫だよ」なら言います。
– Chocolate♦
Sep 12 '18 at 1:29