Japanese verbs form ~te+wa ikenai and ~te+mo ii

In my previous posts on ~te (~て) form I've learned:

• simple command ~て
• polite affirmative ~て + ください (kudasai)
  
• continuous action ~て+いる (iru)
• definitely will (do) ~ て+おく (oku, okimasu)
• will try to (do) ~て+みる (miru, mimasu)

Today I'll be studying ~te+wa ikenai (~て+いけない) and ~te+mo ii (~て+もいい).

Te Form + wa ikenai, wa ikimasu

If you hear いけない ikenai alone it means "You must not do that...:, "Don't do that!". In a shopping center where mothers and kids are together and you're bound to hear "ikenai!".
Plain ikenai will be heard more often than ikemasen.

• Ikenai! (No! Don't!)
• Ikenai! Joushaken o wasurete shimaimashita! (Oh, no! I forgot my ticket!)
• Ikenai! Kimiko wa kasa o motte iku no o wasuremashita! (Oh, no! Kimiko forgot to take her umbrella!)

When placed after the Te Form with wa, ikemasen or ikenai point to what's forbidden:

• 食べてはいけない tabete wa ikenai. (You must not eat this).
• Shashin o totte wa ikemasen. (You can't take pictures.)
• Okurete wa ikemasen yo. (Don't be late.)
• Boku no PC o sawatte wa ikenai! (Don't touch my PC!)

The -te wa element is often "crushed" into "-tcha":

• Boku no PC o sawatte wa ikenai! becomes
• Boku no PC o sawatcha ikenai!

Formal situation substitute for -te wa ikenai is -te wa naranai / narimasen.


Te Form + mo ii, mo yoroshii, yo

Te+mo ii is for giving/asking permission. てもいい te mo ii: "You may do/It's ok if you do".

• 食べてもいい tabete mo ii (You may eat it)
• Boku no PC o tsukatte mo ii yo. (You can use my PC.)
• Gohan o tabete kara terebi o mite mo ii. (You can watch TV after you've eaten your dinner.)
• Jisho o karite mo ii? (Can I borrow your dictionary?)
• (mo)ii desu ka (May I...?)
• (moi)i desu yo (Sure you can...)
• moiiiiiiii-dess! (Enough already! Just forget it!)

ii is often upgraded to the more formal yoroshii:

• Raishuu no getsuyoubi o yasunde mo yoroshii desu ka. (May I take off next Monday? Polite "desu ka" added.)
• Kyou, hayaku kaette mo yoroshii. (You may go home early today. No "desu ka". From boss to employee)

In informal speech "mo ii/mo yoroshi" often gets shortened to "yo":

• Watashi no jisho o tsukatte ii yo. (Sure, you can use my dictionary.)
• Hai, terebi mite ii yo. (Yeah, you can watch TV.)

Here comes the fun:

• Denwa shite moii? (Can I call you? An attempt to date.)
• Kisu shite moii? (Can I kiss you?)