In this lesson, we will learn about the grammar point ～ては, which is a combination of the conjunctive particle て and the bound particle は, used here in its contrastive role. Firstly, as a very brief reminder, below is a quick summation of how to conjugate with ～ては. Because this grammar pattern only concerns verbs, we’ll only need to worry about when～ては may become ～では. This occurs for Godan verbs which end in ぐ・ぶ・む・ぬ.
| Ichidan Verb | 食べる ＋ ては → | 食べては |
| Godan Verb | 立つ ＋ ては → 死ぬ ＋ ては → | 立っては 死んでは |
| する | する ＋ ては → | しては |
| くる | くる ＋ ては → | きては |
| だ | だ ＋ ては → | では |
Curriculum Note: This lesson does not cover how the contrastive は can go after the gerund use of the particle て as seen in phrases like ～について, ～に関して, ～に対して, etc. This is to be discussed later in IMABI.
Usage 1: Trouble Causing Hypotheticals
The first usage of ～ては we will look at is how it is used to express situations that bring about anxiety, misgivings, uneasiness, fear, and/or inconvenience.
1. 学校の体育の運動で喘息発作が出ては困ります。
I’m troubled with asthma attacks happening due to exercise at school in gymnastics.
2. 老人に見られては困ります。
I’m embarrassed when I’m looked at by old people.
3. 誤解があっては困りますので。
Since it’d be worrisome if there is a misunderstanding.
4. 傷が残っては大変だ。
Things will be difficult if there are any wounds/nicks.
5. 鹿にやられては元も子もないので、森林の周囲を電気柵で囲っています。
Since it’d all be for naught if it were ruined by deer, we have the surroundings of the forest enclosed in an electric fence.
～ては（いけない・ならない・だめ）
We have actually already learned about this usage of ～ては when we learned about “must” and “must not” conditional phrases. As review, we will go over the basic combinations for these conditional phrases once more.
・～てはいけない: This is used to tell someone he/she mustn’t do something. It isn’t simply used just to forcibly prohibit things. It could simply imply that the act in question is not favorable and that it will not be approved of by the speaker. This pattern is not typically used towards those who are higher in social status.
・～てはならない: This is used to prohibit something with a sense of duty and responsibility. Whereas the phrase above is most frequently used to prohibit and/or disapprove of the action(s) of individuals, this phrase is most frequently used to objectively state things that ought not be allowed by society at large. Because of this, it is frequently used in law and other important, official documents.
・～てはだめだ: This phrase is a more colloquial, softer variant of ～てはいけない.
6. お盆に土を掘ってはいけない。
One mustn’t dig up dirt during the Festival of the Dead.
7. 私たちが責任を放棄してはならない。
We must not abdicate our responsibility.
8. 動物を殺してはだめなのはなぜなんだろう。
Why is it that it’s bad to kill animals?
9. 見た目で判断してはいけません。
One mustn’t judge based on appearance.
10. もう二度と戦争を起こしてはなりません。
We mustn’t start a war ever again.
【Must】
・～なくてはいけない: The use of this pattern indicates that the listener ought to do something, not just because the speaker is demanding such action, but that not doing whatever it is will be unbeneficial/unfavorable for the speaker and/or listener. This is often used to make statements regarding common sense, morality, societal common wisdom, or current trends. Typically, the sentence is not interpreted as first-person unless a first-person pronoun is explicitly used.
・～なくてはならない: This pattern is used for very affirmative commands out of a sense of duty, but this “must” pattern is directed more so toward individual responsibilities rather than societal ones. This pattern is also preferred in formal writing over the phrase above.
11. なんで勉強（を）しなくてはいけないの？
Why do you have to study?
Sentence Note: The “you” in the sentence is the indirect “you” and not necessarily literally second-person. This is also the case for Ex. 12
12. 親知らずは絶対に抜かなくてはいけないんですか。
Do you have to always pull wisdom teeth?
13. 経済も国民ひとりひとりも常に成長を目指さなくてはいけないのです。
Not just the economy but also each and every citizen must constantly aim at growth.
14. 携帯電話は、私にとってなくてはならない必需品だ。
A cellphone is a necessity that one can’t be without to me.
15. 台風でも出勤しなくてはならない会社の体制をどう思いますか。
What do you think about company systems that mandate (workers) be present even during typhoons?
Usage 2: Condition for Strong Emotional Response
This usage of ～ては is used to express that an action/state that has come about is the reason for a strong emotional response, whether that response be a rebuke, retort, or astonishment.
16. そこまで言われては反論しないわけにはいかない。
Being talked about to that degree, I have no choice but object.
17. そこまでからかわれ馬鹿にされては我慢（が）なりません。
I can’t stand being so ridiculed and made a fool of.
18. 筋の通らないことを平然とやられては黙っていられない。
I can’t stay silent having something illogical so calmly be done to me.
19. 命まで危険に晒されては黙っていられない。
I can’t stay silent as even my life is put in danger.
20. 濡れ衣を着せられては黙ってはいられない。
I can’t stay silent when I’m falsely accused.
Usage 3: Repeated Action/Effect
Similar to the particle たり, ～ては is most frequently used to express the repetition (of a series of) actions. This is usage is more naturally emphatic than たり due to the presence of the contrastive/emphatic は. It is most frequently used in the written language and song lyrics as it adds a layer of expressive capability that isn’t necessarily indicative of standard conversation.
Grammatically speaking, the second verbal element of the pattern V＋ては＋V needs to be in the 連用中止形. This is the form of a verb that can at times be used as nouns. Incidentally, this pattern can be treated as a complex nominal phrase as an effect (See Ex. 28).
21. 書いては消し、書いては消し、なんとかレポートを書き上げた。
I wrote and erased, wrote and erased in writing up the report.
22. 走っては休み、走っては休み、進み続けた。
From running to resting, I continued forward.
23. 目を閉じ、息を吸っては吐く。
Eyes closed, I inhale and exhale.
24. 人生とは波のように寄せては返しているものである。
Life breaks and retreats like waves.
25. あの猫は、死んでは生き返り、生き返っては死に、まるで不死身だ。
That cat constantly dies and comes back to life; it’s as if it’s immortal.
26. これまで結婚しては離婚と再婚を重ねた不二子は、なんと4度もデキ婚！
Fujiko, who has up till now repeatedly been married, divorced, and then remarried, has had four shotgun weddings!
27. 様々な景色が現れては消えていった。
Various sceneries appeared and went away.
28. 鬱状態になると落ち着きがなくなり、ずっと部屋を歩き回ったり、立っては座りを繰り返したり（する）などが見られます。
When someone becomes depressed, one will see behaviors such as loss of composure, walking constantly back and forth in rooms, and repeatedly standing up and sitting down.
29. 服を選ぶときしっくりこなくて、脱いでは着てを何回も繰り返してしまいます。
When I pick out clothes, I can’t get it together and I end up repeatedly taking clothes off and putting them back on many times over.
Grammar Note: Verbs that end up being one-mora long when put in the 連用中止形 usually manifest in the て form when the “V + ては + V” is used as a noun.
30. 夕食が遅いうえにたくさん食べては太るのは当たり前だ。
On top of dinner being late, it’s only natural to be gaining weight each time one eats.
Usage 4: Infallible Repeat
The purpose of this usage of ～ては is to explain how something always happens under the condition that it marks. Think of this as an amalgam of the three usages above being intended simultaneously.
31. 他の人と同じようなことをしていては、いつまでも成功しない。
You will not succeed forever by repeatedly doing the same things as other people.
32. 皆のように遊んでは何もプラスにはならないよ。
There will be no plus to messing around like everyone else.
33. コソコソしていては何事もうまくいかない。
Nothing will go well from constantly being sneaky about things.
34. 自分の身体を否定していてはダイエットは成功できない。
You cannot succeed with a diet by constantly denying what your body (is trying to tell you).
35. 急いては事を損じる。
Haste makes waste.
Usage 5: ～てはみる
The purpose of ～てはみる is to express that although one will make an attempt at doing something, one doesn’t have the confidence and/or doesn’t expect a good result.
36. 考えてはみるよ。
I’ll think about it (but I’m not so sure I’ll be okay with it).
37. やってはみるけど、うまくいくかどうかは分からない。
I’ll definitely try, but I don’t know whether it’ll go well.
38. 一応毎回クリックしてはみるものの、一回も当たったことありません。
I at any rate try clicking it every time, but I have yet to win even once.
39. 食事だって気を付けてるし、色々と挑戦してはみるけれど、どんなに頑張ってもヤセない。
I pay attention to what my meals are and I try all sorts of challenges, but not matter how much I try, I don’t get slimmer.
40. 英単語を覚えてはみるけど、いつも覚えられない、覚えられる気がしない。
I’ll try committing English vocabulary to memory, but I always can’t remember, or I’m always not in the mood to be able to remember them.
Usage 6: ～てはどうか
By using the pattern ～てはどうか, you can suggest that someone do something. There is an implication that the suggestion hasn’t been tried yet by the speaker, thus the use of the contrastive は. In more formal speech, this is expressed as ～てはいかがですか.
41. 魔法の世界に来てはどう？
How about coming to the world of magic?
42. 手を貸すから車椅子に乗ってはどうか。
How about if you use the while chair if I lend you my hands?
43. 捨てる前に利用してはどうですか。
How about using it before throwing it away?
44. 避暑地へ足を延ばしてはいかがですか。
How would you like going to relax at a summer resort?
45. ご覧になってはいかがですか。
How would you like seeing it?
Usage 7: ～てはいる
The contrastive marker は may be inserted inside ～ている to imply that one is doing something, or that what is in question is indeed the case, but that other actions/states are not being undertaken/happening.
46.ここ5年は同じ男と同棲してはいるが、何も築いてはいない。
Although I’ve been living with the same man for the last five years, we haven’t built anything (together).
47. お父さんは亡くなってはいるけれど、その存在は家族のなかにずっとあるものです。
Although our father is no longer with us, his being remains forever within our family.
48. 会社としてはそういう意図でやってはいるけど、その意図どおりに伝わっているかはまた別問題なわけで、それはしょうがないのではないか。
As a company, it is doing so with that intent, but whether it’s being transmitted as intended is a separate problem, but
49. トランプ大統領が提案した予算は極端に削減されてはいるが、財政支出は同氏が大統領選の選挙活動中にこだわった問題ではなかった。
Although the budget presented by President Trump is exclusively reduced, government spending was not a problem that he fussed over during his campaigning in the presidential election.
50. 様々な舞台で核廃絶が議論されてはいるが、各国の思惑から必ずしも進展しているとは言い難い。
Although total abolition of nuclear weapons is discussed in various settings, it is difficult to say that it is necessarily progressing due to each country’s ulterior motives.
Usage 8: ～ではない
As the last use of ～ては to be discussed in this lesson, we return to a grammar point that was first introduced in Lesson 9. Now that you understand how the particle は is exclusively treated as a contrast marker after the particle て, it is only natural to conclude that some degree of contrast is implied with ～ではない, which is indeed the case.
51. 実態は必ずしもそうではない。
The reality is not always so.
52. イチジクは果物ではない。
Figs are not fruit.
53. しばしば、この組織は結果ではなく過程や官僚主義に気をとられている。
Too often the focus of this organization has not been on results, but on bureaucracy and process.
54. どの国も軍事的、財政的な負担の不均衡に耐える必要があるべきではない。
No nation should have to bear a disproportionate share of the burden, militarily, or financially.
55. ブラジルのテメル大統領は19日午前、国連総会で、北朝鮮を強く批判するとともに、軍事力に頼るのではなく、各国が協力して平和的な解決方法を探るべきだと訴えました。
President Temer of Brazil on the morning of the 19th at the United Nations General Assembly, along with strongly criticizing North Korea, urged that each nation not rely on military force but rather search for peaceful solutions through mutual collaboration.
Contractions
For Usages 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8, you may find ては contracted to ちゃ（あ） ・じゃ（あ） . There isn't any difference in meaning whether the vowel /a/ is elongated.
56. 悪いことはしちゃいけないよ。
You mustn’t do anything bad.
57. 最初から新しい勤めに遅れちゃあ大変だろう？
Wouldn’t it be terrible if you were late to your new job from the very beginning?
58. 挑むって言われちゃあ、俺らがやんなきゃなあ。
We gotta do it if we’re told to have a throw down.
59. 自滅してちゃ勝てるわけがない！
You can’t possibly when by constantly ruining yourself!
60. 優しいだけじゃ困るわ。
It’d just be trouble if (he/she) were just nice.
61. いや、呼んじゃあまずい。
No, now’s not the time to call for (him/her).
62. ワガママで自分本位な男じゃ（あ）困る。
I’d be in a rut with a man who’s selfish and egotistic.
63. いつまでも泣いてちゃいけないね。
You mustn’t cry forever.
64. 黙ってちゃ困るんだよ。
[I’m/we’re] going to go through a bunch of trouble with you staying quiet.
65. ぐずぐずしてちゃ駄目だ！
You can’t just be dawdling!