6.5. MORE ADVANCED GRAMMAR 321
into a hypothetical: + +. This negative hypothetical is then
followed by either the negative form of , ’become’, or , which
is a verb that expresses the figurative ’will do’ such as in ”Yes, that will do
nicely”. Because they express slightly different things, the choice of which
to use depends on what a speaker wants to express.
Using + + (or polite, using )
expresses that something ”should” be done, i.e. that the negative verb ac-
tion ”should not come to be”. Using + + (or
polite, using ) expresses that something ”has to” be done, i.e.
that the negative verb action simply ”will not do”. As such, typ-
ically translates to a ”need” to do something, whereas typically
translates to a ”must”:
”I (really) need to practice piano (now).”In this sentence, there are no additional connotations: the speaker
simply notes that they should practice piano. They might need to do so in
order to improve, or because a recital is coming up, but this is left in the
middle.
”I must practice piano.”In this sentence, there is the additional hidden information that the
speaker shouldn’t just practice, but that not practicing will have undesir-
able consequences. Rather than just needing to practice, this practice has
to be done to avoid whatever undesirable consequences not practicing has.
6.5 More advanced grammar.
While there are a lot more topics available when discussing Japanese gram-
mar, a selection had to be made for a book titled an ”introduction” to
Japanese. This book already covers more than what one would tradition-
ally find in an introductory reader on the language, and sticking in even
more topics would make it a far more complete work, but also tremen-
dously more voluminous. As such, this is the end of this introduction
to Japanese syntax, grammar and language. For further grammar, I can
recommend picking up copies of the Dictionaries of Basic, Intermediary
and Advanced Japanese Grammar by Seichi Makino and Michio Tsutsui,
and referring to them whenever you run across interesting grammar use in