Giving orders and saying "don't"

The verb is 入はいる, "to go in". てごらん has no "don't", and べからず only forbids. たまえ cannot follow ない, so in the last row "don't" is a request not to do it, made with くれ.

Parents and teachers: なさい, ちゃだめ, てはいけません

Full pageなさいN4てはいけない・ちゃいけないN5

なさい is how a parent tells a child, or a teacher a student, to do something. It is firm, not rough, and children hear it all day at home.

なさい has no "don't". To a child, "don't" is ちゃだめ. It is the spoken てはいけない, "must not": ちゃ is ては, and だめ, "no good", stands in for いけない. Friends say ちゃだめ to each other too.

てはいけません is how whoever is in charge states a rule: a teacher to a class, a doctor to a patient, a guide to a group.

てごらん: give it a try

Full pageてごらんN3

てごらん is a gentle "give it a try" or "try it and see", from a parent, a teacher or someone senior to someone younger. It invites, where なさい tells. Still, to a teacher or a boss the same suggestion is てみてください.

The flat order: しろ and するな

Full page書かけ・食たべろ・しろ・来こいN4なN5

しろ is する as a flat order, and するな, the dictionary form with な, is its "don't". Other verbs end in an え sound or in ろ (待まて, 見みろ), and 来くる becomes 来こい.

Coaches give these orders, and so do the police and a parent who has run out of patience. In real danger, so do people who would never say them otherwise. In everyday talk they come mostly from men, to people junior to them or close to them, and to anyone else they are rude. Manga, anime and films use them far more than real life does.

A few are kind. Everybody says 頑がん張ばれ, shouted at a match or to a friend before an exam, and "don't worry" can be a flat order too.

てくれ is a rough てください, heard mostly from men and a great deal in manga and dramas.

After a ます-stem, な is something else: なさい cut short, a light nudge to someone you are close to.

Where it goes wrong

For "wait", a learner thinking in English reaches for 待まて. That is what the police shout.

待まって and 待まて are one small っ apart.

なさい sounds gentle, and it is in おやすみなさい and ごめんなさい, so it gets taken for "please". Said to a teacher, a boss or a stranger, it treats them like a child.

From a colleague or a stranger, てはいけません sounds like a telling-off. A request not to do something is ないでください.

ように: an instruction, and an order passed on

Full pageようにN4

A sentence that stops at a plain verb and ように is an instruction from a boss, a teacher or a notice: "make sure you…".

ように言いう passes on what someone was told to do, not the words that were said. So does a flat order before と言いわれた, "I was told", and in such a report it is neutral: nobody was rude, and anyone says it.

On signs and test papers

Full page禁きん止しN4

A road sign or a test paper talks to nobody in particular, so a flat order offends nobody. Signs that forbid often have no verb at all. 禁きん止し, "forbidden", comes straight after the thing you must not do: 駐ちゅう車しゃ禁きん止し, "no parking".

Tests often give their instructions with なさい instead, and some use a written style where ろ becomes よ.

Written rules: こと and てはならない

Full pageことだ・ことN3てはならないN2

A line that stops at こと, with no だ or です after it, is a written rule: school rules, notices on a wall, exam papers.

てはならない is the てはいけない of laws, rule books and solemn speeches.

On old signs and in stories: べからず and たまえ

Full pageべからず・べからざるN1たまえN2

べからず is an old "must not" that ends a notice or a maxim. It is still read on old signs and in proverbs, and if you write it yourself it is a joke.

たまえ is a man's order to someone junior to him, in the speech of a few generations ago. Today it lives in novels, manga and anime, and in jokes. It sounds well-bred, but it is still an order.

Close neighbours