Lesson 66
Te Form + mo ii
This one is used to ask or give permission. We have already looked at ii in other verb forms and combinations (Lessons 26 and 49), so you should be a little familiar with it. It's an adjective which means "good," "fine," "okay," etc. The mo after a verb in its Te Form means something like "if (someone) were to...." Accordingly, adding the ii makes it "if (someone) were to (do something) it would be okay," "it's okay if (someone does something)," etc. Let's do a few examples:
- 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?)
There are a couple of things the grammar books won't tell you. The ones I have checked give you the impression that desu is used after ii to make it polite. Yes, that is the way it works grammatically, as with all adjectives, but I have never heard desu by itself used after ii for a polite, positive response. There is usually something else added on, like yo: ii desu yo (Sure you can...); or ka: ii desu ka (May I...?).
In the workplace, ii is often upgraded to the more formal yoroshii, a word you'll hear a lot if you watch the samurai dramas:
- Raishuu no getsuyoubi o yasunde mo yoroshii desu ka. (May I take off next Monday?)
- Kyou, hayaku kaette mo yoroshii. (You may go home early today.)
You may sound like you're talking down to people if you use this to give permission, so I'd advise avoiding it unless you're a big boss or want to pretend you're one. As with most Japanese, however, the right intonation with desu yo after it can soften it for more informal use.
Another handy thing to know is that it's perfectly okay to omit the mo in familiar conversation:
- Watashi no jisho o tsukatte ii yo. (Sure, you can use my dictionary.)
- Hai, terebi mite ii yo. (Yeah, you can watch TV.)
(Yes, you can also get away with omitting particles, like the object indicator o, in familiar situations as in the last example above. As I've already mentioned, Japanese is much more forgiving and "grammatically unfussy" than English, a fact that makes it easy to work with at times.)
Now, I just mentioned that I've never heard desu used by itself after ii for a polite, positive reply. It is used a lot, however, for conveying a different and negative meaning. If you hear people arguing, you may hear an ii desu! yelled out by one of the arguers, with the ii strongly emphasized, said much louder than the desu. Sometimes you may hear a long mou before the ii: mou ii desu. (It sounds like mou-EEEEE-dess!) Either way, it's equivalent to our "Enough already! Just forget it!"
Word Check
boku: I (used only by males in familiar settings)
tsukau: to use
yo: You bet I mean that... (...or something like that. It's added to the end of sentences for overall emphasis.)
gohan: food 1
kariru: to borrow
raishuu: next week
getsuyoubi: Monday
yasumu: to rest; to take a break; to have time off from work (of a short or long duration)
hayaku: quickly
kaeru: to go home; to return
(Verbs are shown in their plain form.)
Notes
1. Gohan actually means "cooked rice," but is often used to loosely mean "food," especially "a meal" in general. When the time of day can be guessed, gohan will usually be used instead of the words for "breakfast," "lunch," or "dinner": Bokutachi wa shichiji ni kaette, gohan o tabeta. (We got back at seven, then had a meal [=dinner]).
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