Structure
とても + Verb[ない]
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Standard
使用域
一般
Rare Kanji
迚
About とても~ない
When seen in sentences containing verbs negated with the auxiliary verb ない, とても carries the nuance of 'not (A) at all', or 'cannot (A) at all'. とても is supposed to only be used when expressing 'impossibility', 不可能. Due to this, it will primarily appear alongside the potential form of verbs.
- その考え方はとても理解できない。I cannot understand that way of thinking at all.
- 彼はいつも嘘ばかり言うから、彼の言う事はとても信じられない。He always just lies, so I cannot trust what he says at all.
Fun Fact
As long as some part of the sentence expresses the speaker's view about the impossibility of (A), the verb is not always required to be in the negative form.- 彼に子供ができたの!?彼が親になることを想像するのはとても無理だ。He has a baby coming? I cannot imagine him becoming a parent at all.
- どこの航空会社も今はチケットを売っていないから、旅行をするのがとても無理だ。No airline company is selling airline tickets, so it is not possible to travel at all.
Synonyms
Examples
とても考えられない。
I cannot think of it at all.
とても観光できない。
I cannot do any sight-seeing at all.
とても観察できない。
I cannot do any observations at all.
とても完成させられない。
I cannot complete it at all.
とても記憶できない。
I can't memorize anything at all.
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とても~ない – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (5 in total)
Arashi
Thank you for your reply. Maybe it will help me to clarify which is needed during reviews But I admit, the existence of 全然 in this case is not helpful at all I think I need to go back to theory and study once more differences between these expressions.
Aythreuk
Should 「とっても」 be a possible answer in any of these 「とても」 related grammar points?
The more I think about it, the more it doesn’t seem to matter.Pushindawood
@Aythreuk Hey! While とっても and とても are normally interchangeable, with とっても generally adding more emphasis/being stronger than とても, it is better to use とても in this structure as it is closer to a set phrase (とても〜ない rather than just とても). とっても can also be considered more colloquial/spoken than とても and should be avoided in written language. That being said, we weren’t catching とっても for this grammar point, so I have updated the answers that throw hints/warnings to display the above information. Cheers!
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