Today’s construction also uses Nai-form of verbs. And, like yesterday’s, Nai-form gets a little change in “nai” part of Nai-form. The following construction is used to describe an action is unnecessary.
1. [V-na] kutemo Iidesu.
– Suppose you are coming to a festival, and have found an attraction looks fun to you. You want to get in the space of attraction, thinking you need to pay some money. You say hello to the person at the entrance. And then she tells you;
2. Okane o Harawanakutemo Iidesu.
What does she mean by saying this? “You don’t have to pay.” In 2, “Harawanaku” comes from “Harawanai” which is the Nai-form of verb “Harau/Hatraimasu”.
– Suppose you need to remove all the stuffs in the warehouse of your company. The deadline is coming Monday. You thought it takes many hours and perhaps you need to work on Saturday or even Sunday. But thanks to the efforts by you and your co-workers, you have finished the task in the Friday evening. Your boss tells you;
3. Ashita, Konakutemo Iidesu.
This means that “You don’t need to come tomorrow.” In 3, “Konaku” comes from “Konai” which is the Nai-form of verb “Kuru/Kimasu”.
Since we learned expression for necessity, with today’s lack of necessity, practice and remember the following conversation;
A : Koko de Kutsu o Nuganakereba Narimasenka. (Do I need to put off shoes?)
B : Iie, Kutu o Nuganakutemo Iidesu. (No, you don’t need to put off your shoes.)
This post was written with reference to the exercise A4 on Section 17 of “Minna no Nihongo (2nd Edition)” published by “3A Corporation”
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