Lesson 11 of 12
Degree Lab — two patterns that want a stem, not a form
about 10 minutes
After this lesson you can
- Say that something is too much, of a verb and of an adjective.
- Say that you have to do something, and recognise the spoken contraction.
Words this lesson teaches
- すぎる
- too much — after a ます-stem, or an adjective with its ending removed
- なくてはいけない
- have to — after a plain negative with its い removed
- おなか
- the stomach, the belly
- いたい
- painful, sore
- だします
- puts out; hands in; posts
- ちこく
- being late, arriving late
What it explains
すぎる is a complaint, not a measurement
「たかすぎます」 does not mean very expensive; it means expensive past the point where this was reasonable. So it carries a judgement, and about a person's work or a gift it lands badly. For merely a lot, とても and たくさん are already yours. Keep すぎる for the cake you regret and the rent you cannot pay.
Three ways to say you must, and one to say you need not
〜なくてはいけません is the standard written and spoken form. 〜なければなりません is stiffer, and belongs on notices and in offices. 〜なくちゃ is the contraction, plain and everywhere in speech. All three take the same stem, so learning the stem is the work and the endings are a register choice. The opposite is 〜なくてもいい — it is not necessary — which N4.8 teaches, and it is worth seeing the shape now: the same stem again, with も in place of は.
The scene itself is in the app.
Lesson one of this track is free to read in full. From lesson two on, the story, the audio and the review are part of a free account.