Going to a hot spring or public bath? You’ll need to know the proper etiquette if you want to be comfortable and get the most of your time there. In this series we’ll walk you through step by step, so you can bathe like a pro and impress everyone with your knowledge of Japanese culture!
Today we’ll learn how to make commands and negative commands in Japanese. This is done with imperatives in Japanese. We’ll also learn the Japanese phrase -te wa ikenai to make prohibitions.

Learn Japanese at JapanesePod101.com! Today a kid is playing video games before he finished (gasp!) his homework. His mother is non-too thrilled about the situation and willing to go to extreme measures to get the kid off the couch. Our grammar point is nai uchi wa, used to similar to English phrases using “until.” We’ll also look at the colloquial contraction of shite wa into shicha. After listening, stop by JapanesePod101.com and be sure to leave us a post!
Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com! In last week’s story, Mr. Ishihara bought a return trip ticket to Honolulu. Ms. Sasaki’s wedding is underway and Mr. Ishihara is rushing to meet her. But why? In this episode, we will find out what our polite, old couple is up to. We will also take a look at polite and humble Japanese and -te wa ikenai, which is used to prohibit actions. After you recover from the drama, be sure to leave us post!
Category: Lower Intermediate Lessons (S2) | 9 Comments »
Grammar: imperative, negative imperative, te wa dame, te wa ikenai | Function: commands, prohibitions | Topic: bath, hot springs, Japanese traditions, onsen | Politeness Level: casual, Polite
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