15
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The meaning of ~がいい
No, 見る and 諦めた方 are grammatically subjects, not adverbs in those sentences. Words marked with が should be nouns, of course.
As you know, noun + がいい (lit. "~ is good", with exhaustive-listing ga) is ...
10
votes
Accepted
何も言うでない ! meaning and origin
Yes, ~するでない is an old-fashioned and pompous way of saying "Don't do ~!".
In modern Japanese, this is a kind of 役割語 (stereotyped role words) which is typically used by nobles and/or old ...
9
votes
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Plain form as imperative
Yes, 終止形 can be used as a command like in this manga. Translation: "Then stand up right away!"
It sounds like a parent or a school teacher ordering their kids to do something right away. It'...
8
votes
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Is な used for emphasis or negative imperative in this sentence?
「おまえ、そんな体験したこともねぇのにわかったようなこと言うなっ」
How can I know?
When it's spoken, you could easily tell the difference by the pitch accent:
わかったようなこと[言うな]{LHL} ← negative imperative
わかったようなこと[言うな]{LHH} ← mild ...
8
votes
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Could not understand why 命令形 (imperative form) is used in this sentence from 1Q84 book
Have you heard that there are two types of causative form (long and shortened) in Japanese? What you are seeing is the 連用形 (aka masu-stem/pre-masu-form) of ずらせる/ぬがせる (ichidan), not ずらす/ぬがす (godan). ...
7
votes
Accepted
しろ vs. せよ imperative forms
せよ is the imperative form of the verb す, which is an archaic verb meaning する in modern Japanese. This archaic imperative is still found in modern Japanese, typically in examinations at high school and ...
6
votes
Accepted
What does 楽しめよ really mean?
Seems to be the imperative-form verb 楽{たの}しめ together with the particle よ.
楽しめ
楽{たの}しむ is the original verb, which means "to enjoy oneself". 楽{たの}しめ, the imperative form, is formed by ...
6
votes
Which conjugation is this 進む → 進め
This is the [命令形]{めい・れい・けい} - imperative form. It translates more like
O dream boat, go/move on to the shore of tomorrow
Which is almost what you have. The difference is that the singer is ...
6
votes
Accepted
When to use these plain Te-Forms?
Let's talk about the imperative in Japanese: an imperative is a way to give orders and/or commands. However, the form of these utterances decides whether they are humble requests to barked orders.
...
6
votes
Accepted
てはいけない or ては行けない?
The general rule is to write words with auxiliary function in kana, so it's usually written
働かなくてはいけない
Searching the Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written Japanese (BCCWJ, 少納言, http://www....
6
votes
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What does よ bring in 「〜ないでよね」?
It's basically the same as (imperative +) よ, i.e. request when the listener doesn't seem to share the same recognition as the speaker when you doubt that the opponent does it.
In falling tone*1, it ...
5
votes
Accepted
How do I determine the indirect object of a command?
For one, you are confusing transitive (起こす) and intransitive (起きる) verbs. Your "immediate thought" would be
Please wake up at 6am tomorrow.
明日、6時に 起きて ください。
Secondly, you should keep in mind ...
5
votes
Accepted
What does the word 「こいや」 mean?
It's not a word on its own, but a combination of 来い (imperative "come") and や (see #3 in this dictionary entry).
As l'électeur pointed out in the comments, it can be understood as a "tough guy's ...
5
votes
Accepted
"Irregular" 命令形 of some verbs
~くれ
The word, くれ, is a special word.
The original form of this is くれる (呉れる) and the imperative form is くれろ, while it's a deprecated expression.
According to Daijirin:
〔命令形は「くれ」が普通〕
その動作者{...
5
votes
How is な used here?
I think the な is the negative imperative meaning don't do. So, the speaker is telling 鈴木 to not ask his son. The second sentence shows the speaker's reasoning with the explanatory のだ: because there's ...
5
votes
Accepted
What's difference between うるさくないでください and うるさくしないでください
うるさくしないでください is the only correct choice. うるさくないでください is just plain ungrammatical because it lacks a verb.
~ないでください ("Please don't ~") of course needs a verb before it, and in this case, the verb is ...
5
votes
Accepted
でねえ in anime - Negative Imperative?
This ~でねえ is a contraction of ~でない, which is an old-fashioned negative imperative expression. ない changed to ねえ (/ai/-to-/ee/ contraction).
何も言うでない ! meaning and origin
What is じゃねぇか? What is its ...
4
votes
Accepted
Positive Imperatives When Telling Someone Not to Do Something
This was discussed some here in a question about うそおっしゃい. A similar construction happens in English, as in the famous Dirty Harry line, "Go ahead, make my day." The speaker is telling the listener ...
4
votes
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Meaning of 〜たつもりでも〜ても~。
You can see it as two sentences: "優しく言ったつもりでも「~しなさい」と聞こえ(る)" and "「~しなさい」と言っても優しさが伝わる。"
「優しく言ったつもりでも」
--> Even though you meant to say (or ask) something gently/mildly,
「『~しなさい』と聞こえ、」
--> it can ...
4
votes
Accepted
Imperative form is rude...?
Japanese uses honorifics that English doesn't. For example, there are different suffixes, particles, endings that you should use when you say to your friends (or juniors), seniors and very high ...
4
votes
Accepted
Obscure verb forms?
Question 1
~ますまい is grammatical, but it's already fairly uncommon. It's mainly heard in role languages for stereotypical samurai and pompous/noble elderly people.
~ですまい is ungrammatical, although ~...
4
votes
Difference between two grammars, ろ and るんだ?
It is almost same and both can be commands, but やめるんだ is a little bit softer than やめろ.
In the first place, we don’t use やめるんだ as "stop it!" in verbal communication. It is almost only used ...
4
votes
Could not understand why 命令形 (imperative form) is used in this sentence from 1Q84 book
This is not 命令形。 Nobody is telling anyone what to do here, but rather a somewhat poetic description of the actions.
Think of it as shortened 「ずらせて」「脱がせて」。
Besides, 命令形 would be: ずらせろ。脱がせろ。Then, you ...
4
votes
Accepted
Difference between ~てなさい and ~なさい
I don't think this is so much the difference between the two but rather a combination of the two. Here the て-form is used in the continuous sense, 休んでいる, and the なさい is simply applied to the end. In ...
3
votes
Is な used for emphasis or negative imperative in this sentence?
I think it's a negative imperative, also considering the derogative おまえ at the beginning. The english translation would be:
Hey, don't talk like you understand when you've never had such an ...
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