Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Of Swords and Shields: Part 1/Grammar

Expressing "have to"

We looked at one way to say "have to" or "must" in the second section. In this section, we will see another way to say "must".

You can change the verb to the negative て form, and add はいけない　or はいけません　

Note:To form the negative て　form, put the verb in plain past, and replace the last い to　くて

• 食べない　食べなくて
• 書かない　書かなくて

• やさいを食べなくてはいけません。 You have have to eat vegetables.
• 毎日、日本語を勉強しなくてはいけない。 You have to study Japanese every day.

The shortcut for this is to simply replace the なくて with　なくちゃ.

• れんしゅうしなくちゃ。 You have to practice.

Using ～なら

You can say "If something is true, then..." by using なら after a verb or an adjective. For example

• おいしいなら食べます。 If it is delicious, I will eat it.
• 安いなら買えます。　If it is cheap, I can buy it.

You can add a の between the verb/adjective and なら, although it isn't always needed.

Review: ～たい

A quick review over expressing "wanting to do something"

You can put the verb into Base 2 and add たい to say you yourself want to do something.

• 食べる　->　たべ　+　たい　＝　食べたい
• 読む　->　読み　+　たい　＝　読みたい

Example sentences:

• 東京に行きたい。 I want to got to Tokyo
• やさいを食べたくない。 I don't want to eat vegetables

Note: ～たい isn't used when talking about others desires, only your own. To say what others want, you need to say ～たがっている. You can't us

• スミスさんはソーダを飲みたがっています。　Smith wants to drink a soda.