〜な details
write + don't do it — the bare prohibitive, with nothing softening it
kaku na
don't do it — the bare prohibitive, with nothing softening it
meaning: don't write
人の日記、勝手に読むなよ。
hito no nikki, katte ni yomu na yo.
Hey, don't read someone's diary without asking. casual
立入禁止の柵に、「近寄るな」とだけ書かれていた。
tachiiri kinshi no saku ni, chikayoru na to dake kakarete ita.
On the barrier fence there was nothing but KEEP AWAY. neutral
- colloquial
Examples
a bare order not to — blunt, downward or between intimates, and male-coded in ordinary speech
人の日記、勝手に読むなよ。
hito no nikki, katte ni yomuna yo.
Hey, don't read someone's diary without asking. casual
おい、ふざけるな。
oi, fuzakeru na.
Hey — knock it off. casual
warnings, hazard signs and shouted cautions — the danger licenses the bluntness, and anyone may use it
立入禁止の柵に、「近寄るな」とだけ書かれていた。
tachiiri kinshi no saku ni, chikayoru na to dake kakarete ita.
On the barrier fence there was nothing but KEEP AWAY. neutral
危ない、動くな！
abunai, ugoku na!
Careful — don't move! casual
don't worry about it — the protective use, which reads as warmth rather than force and is open to any speaker
あんまり無理するなよ。
anmari muri suru na yo.
Don't go pushing yourself too hard. casual
心配するな、俺がなんとかする。
shinpai suru na, ore ga nantoka suru.
Don't worry — I'll sort it out somehow. casual
quoted inside a report — the ordinary way to relay a ban, whatever manners the reporter keeps
監督に、絶対に無理をするなと言われた。
kantoku ni, zettai ni muri o suru na to iwareta.
The coach told me not to push myself under any circumstances. neutral
Formation
{V}なattaches to dictionary form
Variant notes
- なよ — よ makes the ban personal — 言うなよ pleads or nags where 言うな simply forbids, and 無理するなよ comes out warmer still.
Notes
the imperative 来い that changes it. There is no polite cell: upward,
the ban goes ないでください or ご遠慮ください instead.
Related patterns
Similar
The same stop pointed the other way socially — ないでください asks, and is what a stranger hears; な orders, and in ordinary speech runs downward or between intimates, male-coded as the bare imperative is.
てはいけない states a standing rule binding on anyone (館内では走ってはいけない); な forbids THIS listener THIS act on the spot, which is why it suits a shout or a hazard sign and never a regulation.
Opposite
- 命令形prohibition
One mood's two poles, attached differently — the imperative rebuilds the verb class by class (書け・食べろ・しろ) while な hangs off the dictionary form untouched; on the ます-stem the same kana urges instead（食べな "go on, eat" against 食べるな "don't"）.
Lookalikes
A dictionary form does not settle it — 行くな forbids, but 降るな is the masculine ね of thinking aloud（明日は雨が降るな）, and after a past or an adjective only that musing reading is left.
Combines with
Quotation is where the prohibitive survives into polite speech — 入るなと言われました reports the ban as the blunt thing it was, with none of that bluntness landing on the reporter.