Lesson 10 心得 Can Do’s and Cannot Do
Lesson 10.4
Dialogue 4 会話４
Getting ready to take out customers for the evening
Michael: Suutsu kinakute mo ii deshou?
き
スーツ、着なくてもいいでしょう。
It’s probably okay if I don’t wear a suit, right?
Honda: Iya, kinakucha mazui yo.
き
いや、着なくちゃ、まずいよ。
No, it would be bad if you don’t.
Michael showed up in a suit.
Honda: Waa, oshare!
わあ、おしゃれ！
Wow! Fashionable!
Michael: Kono tai hade-suginai?
はで
このタイ、派手すぎない。
Isn’t this tie too loud?
Honda: Uun, yoku niau yo!
にあ
ううん、よく似合うよ！
No, you look good!
Vocabulary
suutsu スーツ suit
kiru きる 着る put on, wear (on upper body)
＋haku はく put on, wear (on lower body)
＋kaburu かぶる put on, wear (on head)
＋nugu ぬぐ take off
kinakute mo きなくても 着なくても even if you don’t wear (it’s ok)
kinakucha きなくちゃ 着なくちゃ if you don’t wear (it’s not ok)
mazui まずい not good; awkward; bad-tasting
oshare (na) おしゃれ stylish; fashionable; fashion
tai タイ necktie
hade (na) はで 派手 flashy, showy
＋jimi (na) じみ 地味 quiet (style, color)
Niau にあう 似合う becoming, look good
Clothing
Items for the Verb kiru
kimono 着物 kimono
burausu ブラウス blouse
doresu ドレス dress
shatsu シャツ shirt
jaketto ジャケット jacket
uwagi 上着 jacket, outer ware
shitagi 下着 underwear
kooto コート coat
seetaa セーター sweater
Items for the Verb haku
zubon ズボン tousers, pants
pantsu パンツ pants
jiinzu ジーンズ jeans
sukaato スカート skirt
kutsu 靴 shoes
kutsushita 靴下 socks
sokkusu ソックス casual(school) socks, white socks
Item for the verb Kaburu
Items for the verb Suru
nekutai ネクタイ necktie
nekkuresu ネックレス necklace
ringu リング ring
iyaringu イヤリング earring
sukaafu スカーフ scarf
beruto ベルト belt
megane めがね eye glasses
tokei 時計 watch
meeku メーク make-up
Grammar Notes
10-4-1 Expressing Negative Permission ‘Do Not Have To’
In Dialogue 2, we discussed the /affirmative ~te mo/ in permission patterns. Now we discuss the /negative ~nakute mo/ in negative permission patterns. Negative permission means ‘It’s okay NOT to do X’ or ‘You do not have to do X.’
Matanakute mo ii desu yo. You don’t have to wait.
Mou ganbaranakute mo ii desu. You don’t have to try so hard anymore.
Honyaku-shinakute mo ii desu ka. Is it okay if I don’t translate it?
You can also combine more than one permission pattern together to indicate options.
Kite mo konakute mo ii desu. It’s okay whether you come or not. Kekkon-shite mo, shinakute mo ii desu. It doesn’t matter if you get married or not. Meeru-site mo denwa-shite mo ii desu. It’s okay whether you email or call.
10-4-2 Expressing Necessities ‘must’
In Dialogue 3, we discussed the /affirmative ~te wa/ in prohibition patterns. Now we consider the /negative ~nakute wa/ in necessity patterns. Necessity means ‘you must do X’ or ‘it’s no good if you do NOT do X.’ The sound change of /te wa/to /cha/ and /de wa
/ to /ja/ occurs with this pattern as well. In addition to ikenai, other negative expressions can follow this pattern.
Benkyou-shinakute wa ikemasen. You must study.
Shigoto ni ikanakute wa dame na n desu. I must go to work, so…
Suutsu kinakucha mazui yo. It’s not good if you do not wear a suit.
We have seen all the four patterns involving the ~te form—Permissions, prohibitions, negative permissions, and necessities. Now let’s see how they complement each other.
Tabako suttee mo ii desu ka? Is it okay if I smoke?
-Iya, suttee wa ikemasen yo. No, it’s no good if you do.
Shigoto ni ikanakute mo ii desu ka. Is it okay if I do not go to work?
–Iya, ikanakute wa ikemasen yo. No, it’s no good if you do not.
Note that in some situations, it may be rude to use these patterns. Do not forget to use softer or indirect patterns including apologies, requests, chotto, kedo, n desu, shi, etc.
Tabako sutte mo ii desu ka?
–Iya, sumimasen kedo, kodomo ga imasu shi….
Well, Sorry, but children are here, and…
–Chotto, soto de onegai-dekimasen ka. Can I just ask you to do it outside?
– Asoko ni kinen tte… Over there it says ‘no smoking’
Shigoto ni ikanakute mo ii desu ka.
– Kyou wa sugoku isogashii n desu kedo..
It’s just that we are extremely busy today, and…
– Iya, kite kudasai yo. Onegaishimasu. Please come. I’m begging you.
10-4-3 X-sugiru
The verb sugiru means ‘pass something.’ It can be attached to a verb stem (verb masu-form without masu), adjective root (adjective i-form without i) or na-nouns to make a compound verb that means ‘overly so’ or ‘too much for X’. The resulting compound form is a RU-verb.
With Verb Stem: Chotto tabe-sugimashita. I ate a little too much.
With Adj. Root: Taka-sugiru kara, kawanai. I won’t buy it because it’s too expensive.
With Na-Aoun: Ano hito, majime-sugiru. He is too serious.
When –ru of sugiru is dropped, it becomes a noun and often used in a casual speech.
Ano hito sugo-sugi! He is too amazing!
Chotto, nomi-sugi ja nai no? Aren’t you drinking a little too much?
10-4-4 Verbs of Dressing
There are different verbs in Japanese for the English verb ‘put on (pieces of clothing)’ or ‘wear’. The choice is based on where you put on the item. Kiru for the upper body, haku for the lower body, kaburu for on top of the head, and suru for smaller items such as accessories and ties. Note the difference in meaning among the following.
Shatsu o kiru. I’ll put on a shirt. (Action)
Shatsu o kite iru. I’m wearing a shirt/ I’m dressed in a shirt. (State)
Nekutai o shinai. I’ll not put on a tie. (Action)
Nekutai o shite inai. I have no tie. (State)
Drills and Excercises
Cue and Response
Cue: スーツ、着ましょうか。 Shall I wear a suit?
Response: いえ、着なくてもいいですよ。 No, you don’t have to.
Cue: 帽子、かぶりましょうか。 Shall I wear a hat?
Response: いえ、かぶらなくてもいいですよ No, you don’t have to.
Cue: 宿題しない？ Why don’t we do the homework?
Response: しなくちゃいけないの？ Do we have to?
Cue: 古い写真、捨てない？ Why don’t we throw away the old pictures?
Response: 捨てなくちゃ行けないの？ Do we have to?
Cue: ちょっと派手ですね。 It’s a little loud, isn’t it?
Response: ええ、派手すぎますね。 Right. It’s too loud.
Cue: よく飲みましたね． We drank a lot, didn’t we?
Response: ええ、飲み過ぎましたね． Right. We drank too much.
Say it in Japanese
Ask the section chief about the project.
- Do we have to translate the document?
- Do we have to use these pictures?
- Do we have to meet the president of that (notorious) company?
- Do we have to get an Ok from the division chief? (Does the division chief must say ‘ok’?)
- Do we have to pay in dollars?
Ask a co-worker about the dress code for an event.
- Do we have to wear a suit?
- Men don’t have to wear a tie, do they?
- We must not wear jeans, right?
- Is any color okay?
- Do women have to wear a dress? Can we wear pants?
Act in Japanese
- Describe a) how your classmates are dressed today; b) how to dress for different occasions in your country.
- Discuss the dos and don’ts at work in your country.
- See your colleagues off to a party. Warn them not to drink too much.
- With freedom, comes responsibility. Explain what they are for
- a) driving; b) being a college student; c) working from home
Exclaim that you don’t have to memorize dialogues any more! Congratulations!
