nihongo wo benkyou shitai

日本語：	[verb (base 6)] はいけない
English:	Must not... May not...

Today's entry is a grammar point the probably won't be used much by people like myself, primarily because unless you are on really good terms with the recipient, it's going to be seen as rude. However, if you watch Japanese TV, you're going to hear it so it is worth knowing.

To be honest, there really isn't much to say about it; added to the base 6 form of a verb, it allows the construction of sentences that indicate actions that are forbidden.

English:	Don't eat my chocolate
Jenglish:	[my chocolate][eat + forbidden]
日本語：	私のチョコレートを食べてはいけない！

English:	Don't talk to strange women
Jenglish:	[strange][women][to][talk + forbidden]
日本語：	おかしい女を話してはいけない。

English:	Don't take things from my room without asking.
Jenglish:	[asking][without][my room][from][things][take + forbidden]
日本語：	求めないずに僕の部屋から物を持ち去ってはいけない。

Now, lets see what real-world examples we can find.

Example 1:

I'm not sure what they're doing, but the first example is from http://gigazine.net/index.php?/news/comments/20070116_microwave_me/

日本語：	これは電子レンジに入れてはいけないんじゃないか、というものをあえてチンしてみるムービーです。
Jenglish:	[these][subject marker][microwave oven][in][put in + forbidden][so... but why],[something like][challenge/dare][??][movie][is].

This took AGES! For a start, じゃないか completely lost me. After about an hour of searching I dug up JapanesePod101 Beginner Lesson 118, which suggests it can be used as a tag question, to question something you are unsure of. I was struggling to think of an English equivalent so I've translated it as 'so... but why'. The next bit is really just a guess, especially as I could find nothing for チン, so the best translation I can come up with is:

So, it's forbidden to put these in a microwave, but why?: A movie where ?? dares to do it.

Example 2:

This one sounds pretty interesting, if you can look beyond the title: http://business.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/life/20070112/116840/

日本語：	「ぼくは痴漢じゃない!」と言ってはいけない？！
Jenglish:	["][I][molester][not]["][say + forbidden]

I've translated this as Don't say "I'm not a pervert". It appears to be a book by some guy who used to work for the Tokyo Stock Exchange, but was one day accused of being a molester. Seems the book is about how his life changed after the trial.

Example 3:

An interesting article on women you shouldn't marry can be found at http://allabout.co.jp/relationship/divorce/closeup/CU20060427A/

日本語：	こんな女と結婚してはいけない！
Jenglish:	[like this][women][with][marriage][to do + forbidden]

The only issue I had here was the use of the particle と which I would translate literally as 'with'. However, I've decided drop it in this case. My translation is Don't marry women like this.

またね・・・