Page 415 - Basic Japanese

“Ii desu yo.”
“Kyō chotto hayaku kaette “Yes, it’s fine.”

mo ii desu ka.”
“Is it okay to go home
a bit early?”

“Ē, kamaimasen yo.”
“Kono heya o tsukatte mo ii “Yes, it’s fine.”

desu ka.”
“Is it okay to use this
room?”

“Mochiron.”
“Keitai ni denwa shite mo ii “Surely.”

desu ka.”
“Is it okay to call your
cell phone?”

8.7. Denial of permission = prohibition

To say ‘someone MAY NOT do something,’ the Japanese

usually use a statement of PROHIBITION, ‘someone MUST
NOT do something.’ This consists of the plain gerund of the

affirmative verb -te + the particle wa +

ikemasen/narimasen/dame desu. The expression -te wa ikemasen
means something like ‘as for doing something, it’s no good,’
that is ‘don’t do it.’ You have already had one way to say

‘Don’t read this book’: Kono hon o yomanai de kudasai. The use
of the PLAIN NEGATIVE + COPULA GERUND + kudasai is a rather

direct way of ORDERING someone not to do something.
Except when talking to subordinates, Japanese usually