Infos sur Grammaire

N1 Leçon 5: 6/17

～に〜ないCannot even...if wants, Would like to...but cannot, Wants to...but cannot

Structure

Verb［る］(A) + に + Verb［できる］［ない］(A)

Détails

  • Niveau de langue

    Standard

À propos de 〜に〜ない

に～ない is a construction which appears with repeating verbs in Japanese to indicate that one 'cannot (A) even if they want to', or 'due to some circumstances, can't (A)'. the case marking particle に will appear after a verb in its dictionary form, before the potential form of the same verb will be negated with ない. In this way, the more literal meaning is 'for (A), (A) is not possible'.

It will be important to keep in mind that する does not have a potential form, so できない will be used in the latter half of this expression when paired with する verbs.

Additionally, ない may sometimes be replaced with other structures that convey negation, such as ず.

Caution

Occasionally, the dictionary form of a verb will be replaced with the auxiliary verb う or よう volitional forms, and will then be followed by にも. The potential form of the same verb coming before ない will remain the same.

Although the meanings are the same between both of these, the dictionary form tends to highlight psychological circumstances for why one 'cannot (A)', while the volitional form highlights more concrete or physical circumstances.

Exemples

--:--

    親友(しんゆう)から土下座(どげざ)をしながら頼(たの)まれては、断(ことわ)るに断(ことわ)れません。

    Being requested something while my friend is on their hands and knees, I cannot refuse even if I want to.

    逃(に)げるに逃(に)げられない状況(じょうきょう)から救(すく)ってくれたのは、いつもは厳(きび)しい先輩(せんぱい)だった。

    The one who saved me from a situation that I wanted to escape from but could not, was my senpai who is always strict.

    嫌(きら)われている上司(じょうし)が見事(みごと)に転(ころ)んでしまった。従業員(じゅうぎょういん)が笑(わら)うに笑(わら)えない、という顔(かお)をしてた。

    The boss that everyone hates had a spectacular fall. The employees' faces looked as though they wanted to laugh but were unable to.

    「彼(かれ)はどうして学校(がっこう)に戻(もど)ろうとしないのかな？」
    「何(なに)があったか知(し)らないけど、言(い)うに言(い)えない事情(じじょう)があるのかな。」

    'Why is he not willing to go back to school?'
    'I'm not sure if something happened or not, but maybe he is in a situation where he cannot talk about it (even though he may want to).'

    「彼女(かのじょ)が断(ことわ)れば殺(ころ)すと言(い)って突然(とつぜん)断(ことわ)るに断(ことわ)れない状態(じょうたい)になった。」

    'She said, 'If you refuse, I will kill you,' so the situation suddenly turned into one where I couldn't refuse even if I wanted.'

  • Obtenez plus d'exemples !

    Les utilisateurs Premium ont accès à 12 phrases d'exemple pour chaque point de grammaire.

Phrases personnalisées

Étudiez à votre manière !

Ajoutez vos propres phrases et étudiez-les avec celles de Bunpro.

  • En ligne

      Aucune ressource En ligne listée pour 「〜に〜ない」.

      Vous pouvez . Les ressources sont mises à jour régulièrement, revenez plus tard pour découvrir les nouveautés !

    • Hors ligne

        Aucune ressource Hors ligne listée pour 「〜に〜ない」.

        Vous pouvez . Les ressources sont mises à jour régulièrement, revenez plus tard pour découvrir les nouveautés !

      • Suivez vos ressources !

        Bunpro garde une trace des ressources que vous avez consultées, et propose des marque-pages utiles pour suivre vos lectures hors ligne.

      〜に〜ない – Discussion Grammaire

      Réponses les plus récentes (3 au total)

      • veritas_nz

        veritas_nz

        For the sentence:
        「部長のその高圧的な態度のせいで、周りの従業員は部長に不満を言うに言えないでいる」

        Does the 「言うに言えない」part of the sentence get treated as a Noun/Na-adjective?
        How come it can be used with 「〜でいる」？

      • nekoyama

        nekoyama

        ないでいる means to remain in a state of not doing something, or in a state of being unable to do something. The subject must be capable of feeling and intention.

        I found this link, maybe it helps: 〜ないでいる・〜ずにいる｜日本語能力試験　JLPT　N３ : 絵でわかる日本語

      • veritas_nz

        veritas_nz

        Thank you!! What the fek, first time I’m seeing this.

        I feel like I’ve never seen this anywhere in the wild…
        I wonder how rare it is? Most cases just 〜ていない is used?

      Des questions à propos de 〜に〜ない ? Rejoignez-nous pour discuter, poser vos questions et apprendre ensemble !

      Rejoindre la discussion