What does “dame” mean in Japanese?
Japanese native speakers often say “dame” to mean ‘wasted’, ‘ruined’, or ‘no good’ in Japanese. In this blog post, I will explain this word in detail based on its kanji expression and origin. And also, I will explain how to use it through example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners to understand “dame” more clearly. Then, let’s get stared!
Contents
Definition and meanings of “dame”
Let me start with the definition and meanings of “dame”.
- dame – 駄目 (だめ) : originally a noun, but often used as an adjective to mean ‘wasted’, ‘ruined’, or ‘no good’ in Japanese.
Japanese people use this word conveniently to describe something not good. I think that a lot of Japanese learners already know this word because it is quite often used in Japanese movies, anime, songs, and the like. However, they don’t know well the background of this word and why it can mean ‘wasted’, ‘ruined’, or ‘no good’. So, I will explain this word in detail based on its kanji expression and origin.
“Dame” in kanji
The kanji expression of “dame” consists of the following two characters:
- 駄 : a kanji character widely used to mean ‘useless’.
- 目 : a kanji character used to mean ‘eye’. This can also mean ‘eyes’. Learn more about Japanese plural.
From these two kanji characters, we can understand that “dame” literally means ‘useless eyes’. This kanji concept doesn’t seem to be in line with the meanings, but knowing the origin would help us to understand why ‘useless eyes’ came to mean ‘wasted’, ‘ruined’, or ‘no good’.
Some history of “dame”
To tell the truth, “dame” originally came from the traditional board game, “go”, in which two players use stones to gain territories on a playing board. Territories consist of line intersections surrounded by stones. And Japanese people use the kanji character, “目”, to count these intersections. In other words, they call line intersections “eyes”.
I’ve explained that “dame” literally means ‘useless eyes’. As you may notice, it refers to intersections which become useless through processes of a game. This is a little background of “dame”. And this is why it can mean ‘wasted’, ‘ruined’, or ‘no good’ today, even outside of the game.
Then, let me explain how to use it through the example sentences below.
Example #1: how to say “this is no good” in Japanese
kore wa dame desu – これは駄目です (これはだめです)
This is no good.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- kore – これ : a demonstrative pronoun referring to a thing close to the speaker. In the example, this is used to mean ‘this’ in Japanese.
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this is used after “kore” to make the subject word in the sentence.
- desu – です : an auxiliary verb used after a noun or adjective to make it polite. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese desu form. In the example, this is used after “dame” to make it sound polite.
This is a typical usage of “dame”. In this example, it is used to mean ‘no good’ in Japanese. When we want to say “no good” in Japanese, it would be a very good option.
Example #2: how to say “to go bad” in Japanese
tamago ga dame ni nat ta – 卵が駄目になった (たまごがだめになった)
Eggs went bad.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- tamago – 卵 (たまご) : a noun meaning ‘egg’ in Japanese. This can also work as a plural noun.
- ga – が : a case particle used to make the subject word or the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after “tamago” to make the subject word in the sentence.
- ni – に : a case particle used to indicate a condition or situation which something is in after a change or action. In the example, this is used after “dame” to indicate the condition which eggs are in after the change.
- nat – なっ : one conjugation of the verb, “naru”, which means ‘to become’, ‘to turn’, ‘to get’, or just ‘to be’ in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
- ta – た : an auxiliary verb used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its past tense form. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese ta form. In the example, this is used after “nat” to make its past tense form, “nat ta”.
This is another typical usage of “dame”. In this example, it works as a part of the commonly-used expression, “dame ni nat ta”, which means ‘to have gone bad’ in Japanese. This expression should be learnt together with its present tense form, “dame ni naru”, which means ‘to go bad’ in Japanese. “To go bad” can be considered as “to get wasted”, so “dame” is suitable in this context. When we want to say “to go bad” in Japanese, therefore, dame-related expressions are useful.
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained “dame” in detail based on its kanji expression and origin. And also, I’ve explained how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.
- dame – 駄目 (だめ) : originally a noun, but often used as an adjective to mean ‘wasted’, ‘ruined’, or ‘no good’ in Japanese. Native speakers use this word conveniently to describe something not good in general. These two kanji characters literally mean ‘useless eyes’. This idea originally came from the traditional board game, “go”.
Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.
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