こんにちは！

私はカナダ人です。

１月から、私は日本語をべんきょうしています。すぐ日本へいくつもりですから。

このコミュニティでしつもんしなもいいですか。

私はことばとかんじをべんきょうしなければいけません。たすけがひつようです。

よろしくおねがいします。

  • Lumidaub@feddit.orgEnglish
    10·
    4 months ago

    なければ is the negated subjunctive of ある, so very literally it means something like “if this isn’t the case/doesn’t happen/doesn’t come to pass”. It’s not easy to translate.

    いけません literally means “cannot go/work”.

    So what you’re saying is “if this doesn’t happen (/if I don’t do this), it won’t do (so I have to do it)”.

    Edit: Oh and don’t expect every grammatical pattern to have a translation that makes sense. Some of them you just need to memorise.

    • cyborganism@piefed.caOPEnglish
      4·
      4 months ago

      Haha, wow! I knew it sounded like a double negation situation, and it seemed oddly complicated.

      But as you said, sometimes in Japanese you can’t overthink it. Just memorize.

      • k0e3@lemmy.ca
        1·
        3 months ago

        Native speakers of any language are prone to miss this, but a lot of grammar makes no sense! For example, “I must” translates to “〜なければならない” but “I have to” which means the same thing would literally be “〜持つ(possess) へ (to)”. To a Japanese person, it doesn’t makes sense that “must” and “have to” mean the same thing.

        So, a lot of times, it’s best just to go with the flow and not to worry about the little things.