いけない

Japanese

Etymology

Hiragana いけない
Kanji 行けない

Negative form of 行ける (ikeru), the potential form of 行く (iku).

Verb

いけない (rōmaji ikenai)

  1. bad, naughty
    • いけない ()だね。
      Ikenai ko da ne.
      You're a naughty child.
  2. it's bad if...
    • 宿題 (しゅくだい)をしなくてはいけない
      Shukudai o shinakute wa ikenai.
      I have to do my homework. (it's bad if I don't do my homework)
    • ポイ ()してはいけない
      Poisute shite wa ikenai.
      Please don't litter. (it's bad if you litter)
  3. Oh no!

Usage notes

The “it's bad if …” sense is similar to ならない (naranai), but appeals to morals instead of rules. ならない (naranai) is used for something you're not allowed to do, and いけない (ikenai) is used for something that you shouldn't do because it brings about an unwanted result. However, this doesn't mean that いけない (ikenai) in e.g. ポイ ()てしてはいけない (poisute shite wa ikenai) makes it just a request instead of a demand, any more than please in “please don't litter” makes that so.

Inflection

Synonyms

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