Lesson 10 心得 Can Do’s and Cannot Do
Lesson 10.1
Dialogue 1 会話１
At an ATM
Honda: Dou shita no? Nani ka mondai?
もんだい
どうしたの？何か問題？What’s wrong? Any problem?
Michael: Kore, yomenai no.
よ
これ、読めないの。I cannot read this.
Honda: Aa, pasuwaado o irete kudasai tte.
い
ああ、「パスワードを入れてください」って。
Oh, it says, ‘Please enter your password.”
Michael: Okkee. Minai de yo.
み
オッケー。見ないでよ。Okay. Don’t look.
Honda: Minai wa yo.
み
見ないわよ。I’m not gonna look.
Vocabulary
mondai もんだい 問題 problem
yomeru よめる読める can read (See 10-1-1)
yomenai よめない読めない cannot read
pasuwaado パスワード password
ireru いれる入れる enter; put it in
＋wasureru わすれる忘れる forget
＋oboeru おぼえる覚える remember; commit to memory
minai de みないで見ないで Don’t look (See 10-1-2)
Grammar Notes
10-1-1 Verb Potential Forms
The verb suru ‘do’ has a special potential form dekiru ‘can do’. For all the other verbs, there are different conjugation rules to make potential forms for different verb groups.
Group 1: U-Verbs
Change /u/ to /eru/
The resulting form is a RU-verb. To make its negative form, change /ru/ to /nai/.
- nomu nomeru nomenai
- kau kaeru kaenai
Change /ru/ to /rareru/ (or /reru/ for the newly emerging version)
taberu-> taberareru (tabereru)-> taberarenai (taberenai)
Group 3: Irregular Verbs
kuru-> korareru (koreru)-> korarenai (korenai) suru-> dekiru -> dekinai
iku-> ikeru-> ikenai
no potential form for aru
Group 4: Special Polite Verbs
Follow the same rule as Group 1—change /u/ to /eru/
Irassharu-> irasshareru-> irassharenai
Note that the object of Potential verbs can be marked either by the particle o or ga, just like we saw before with the verb ~tai forms.
- Kaado o/ga tsukaeru.You can use a credit card.
- Nihongo o/ga hanaseru.I can speak Japanese.
10-1-2 Negative Requests
Earlier, we learned that the~ te form of verbs are used to make a request.
Casual: Tabete. Eat.
Formal: Tabete kudasai. Please eat.
More polite: Tabete itadakemasen ka. Could you please eat?
To make a negative request (asking someone not to do something), you add de to the plain negative form of the verb.
Casual: Tabenai de. Don’t eat.
Formal: Tabenai de kudasai. Please don’t eat.
More polite: Tabenai de itadakemasen ka. Could you please not eat?
Some sentence particles can follow these requests with an added meaning.
Tabenai de ne? Don’t eat, okay?
Tabenai de yo. Don’t eat, I’m telling you.
Drills and Excercises
Cue and Response
Cue: 読む？ Will you read it?
Response: すみません。読めないんです。 Sorry. I can’t read it.
Cue: 食べる？ Will you eat it?
Response: すみません。食べられないんです。 Sorry. I cannot eat it.
Response: あ、使わないでください。 Oh, please don’t use it.
Cue: これ、食べます。 I’ll eat this.
Say it in Japanese
You’ve been asked about your various skills at an interview.
- As for Japanese, I can speak a little, but I cannot read very much.
- Of course, I can use Word, Excel, etc. No problem.
- I can make simple dishes, but cannot make difficult ones.
- I can work in the evenings and on weekends, too.
- I cannot do interpretation, but can-do translation.
Give the following instructions to an intern in your office.
- Don’t send this file. Send the PDF.
- Don’t use your cellphone here. Use it outside.
- Don’t forget the password. Don’t write it down. Remember it.
- Don’t worry. Work hard (good luck!)
- Don’t tell this to the section chief yet. Wait until next month.
Act in Japanese
You are about to take on a new project. Tell everyone not to worry; you’ll work hard.
The section chief is reading your report. Ask if there is any problem.
Let a friend know that you have a problem because a) you forgot the password; b) you cannot use the Internet in this hotel; c) you cannot memorize kanji; d) you cannot tell this to your parents; e) you cannot forget an ex-boy/girlfriend.
You are about to break some news. Ask a friend a) not to laugh; b) not to be disappointed.
A friend offers to make sandwich for you. Tell him what you do or do not want in your sandwich. How about in your coffee?
