In this lesson you are going to learn how to say “must” in Japanese. Here’s the problem. There are a confusing number of ways to say it. Just look at this list of phrases which all mean the same thing: しなければなりません Shinakereba narimasen しなければいけません Shinakereba ikemasen しなくてはいけません Shinakute wa ikemasen しなくちゃいけません Shinakucha ikemasen しなきゃいけません Shinakya ikemasen しないといけません Shinai to ikemasen しなくちゃ Shinakucha しなきゃ Shinakya しないと Shinai to Not only that but each way of saying “must” in Japanese has a different level of politeness associated with it for different social situations. It’s also quite common for Japanese schools and textbooks to only teach the formal way of saying of “must”. However, in daily life in Japan, you will notice that most of the time, people tend to use the casual form. But fear not dear student of Japanese, Learn Japanese Pod will help you to navigate this linguistic confusion. We are all about teaching you the most useful and natural Japanese for daily life in Japan. Therefore, this lesson will exclusively focus on the casual form which in my experience is the most useful form to know. But before we do, let’s briefly study the grammar and a little of the culture behind this. Grammar: How to say “must” in Japanese One of the most formal and common ways you will be taught “must” in Japanese is: しなければなりません Shinakereba narimasen This is made from two parts “Shinakereba” which means “If I do not” and “Narimasen” which means “It is not allowed”. So this literally means, “it is not allowed if I do not do it” or “It will be bad if I don’t do it”. This two part form is used for most levels of politeness If I don’t do it It will not be allowed Shinakereba Narimasen Shinakereba Ikemasen Shinakya Ikemasen There is no direct way of saying must in Japanese so this indirect double negative form is used. This roundabout way of saying “must” in Japanese perhaps reflects the way Japanese shy away from direct language and confrontational statements. The most common way to say “must” in Japanese As you will discover when you come to Japan, most people in daily conversation use the common form. Instead of using the tongue twisting “Shinakereba narimasen” you can drop the -nakereba narimasen and simply add -kya to give you shinakya – I must do something. The formal way of saying I have to clean the house is: 掃除しなければなりません – Sōji shinakereba narimasen – I have to clean (the house) However, the more common and easy way to say that is 掃除しなきゃ – Sōji shinakya –  I have to clean How to construct the casual form of “must” in Japanese To say you must do something using other verbs using the casual form, simply follow these steps: Step 1) Take the negative casual form of a verb, for example: しない Shinai Don’t do 行かない Ikanai Don’t go 食べない Tabenai Don’t eat 買わない Kawanai Don’t buy Step 2) Replace the -i at the end of the verb with -kya しなきゃ Shinakya I must do (something) 行かなきゃ Ikanakya I must go (somewhere) 食べなきゃ Tabenakya I must eat (something) 買わなきゃ Kawanakya I must buy (something) Finally, there are three common casual forms: 1) しなきゃ Shinakya 2) しなくちゃ Shinakucha 3) しないと Shinai to Sometimes people will add いけない to the end of these forms to make: しなきゃいけない しなくちゃいけない しないといけない You can use any of these forms in a casual setting to say you must do something. This lesson will focus on using just shinakya. Main Dialog A: ごめん、もう行かなきゃ。 Gomen mō ikanakya. Sorry, I have to go. B: