な (Masculine Negative Imperative) Japanese Grammar Lesson
Grammar Type: Particle
Essential Meaning: Don’t do X (strong negative imperative)
Construction:
- Verb informal non-past + な
- E.g. 話すな [Don’t speak]
- E.g. 食べるな [Don’t eat]
Notes:
- な is a very strong, masculine, and informal negative imperative marker. When appended to the end of an informal non-past sentence, な means “Don’t do X!“. For example, the famous Bruce Lee quote “Don’t Think. Feel” is translated as: 「考えるな。感じろ。」
- Females tend to use ないで (i.e. negative て-Form) to convey informal imperatives.
- E.g. 食べないで![Don’t eat!]
Example Sentences:
タバコを吸うな![Don’t smoke tobacco!]
酒をあまり飲むな![Don’t drink too much!]
そんなところにもう行くな![Don’t go to that sort of place any more!]
あんな男とは結婚するな![Don’t marry that kind of guy!]
もう帰ってくるな![Don’t come home any more!]
WILD Examples:
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