Breakdown of yokinkouza no ansyoubangou wo wasurenai you ni, memo ni kaite okimasu.
Questions & Answers about yokinkouza no ansyoubangou wo wasurenai you ni, memo ni kaite okimasu.
の here is the attributive / possessive particle, and it links two nouns in a way very similar to "of" or the English possessive "'s".
- 預金口座 – bank account
- 暗証番号 – PIN (personal identification number)
So:
- 預金口座の暗証番号
→ the PIN of (my) bank account
→ my bank account PIN
This の is not limited to strict possession; it often expresses any kind of belonging, association, or specification:
- 学校の先生 – a teacher of a school (school teacher)
- 日本の会社 – a company from Japan / Japanese company
In this sentence, 預金口座の暗証番号 is one noun phrase: the bank account’s PIN.
In this sentence, 暗証番号を is the direct object of 忘れない:
預金口座の暗証番号を忘れないように、メモに書いておきます。
So that I don’t forget the PIN of my bank account, I’ll write it down on a note.
Breakdown of the first part:
- 預金口座の暗証番号 – the bank account’s PIN
- を – object marker
- 忘れない – don’t forget
So: 暗証番号を忘れない → not forget the PIN.
書いておきます has its own (often omitted) direct object: you could make it explicit:
- (預金口座の暗証番号を)メモに書いておきます。
(I’ll) write (the PIN) on a note.
But because 暗証番号を is already clearly the object of 忘れない, and Japanese tends to avoid repetition, the second object is just understood from context.
忘れないように is:
- 忘れない – not forget (negative, non‑past of 忘れる)
- ように – in order to / so that / in such a way that
So literally:
忘れないように
→ in such a way that (I) do not forget
→ so that I don’t forget
Grammar pattern:
- Verb (dictionary form) + ように
- 行くようにする – try to go / arrange so that I go
- Verb (negative form) + ように
- 忘れないように – so that I don’t forget
- 風邪をひかないように – so that I don’t catch a cold
Here the nuance is “I will take this action as a precaution so that forgetting won’t happen” rather than actively “to remember.”
Both are grammatically possible, but the nuance is different.
忘れないように – focuses on preventing a bad thing (forgetting)
- Very common when taking precautions:
- 忘れないようにアラームをかけます。
I’ll set an alarm so I don’t forget.
- 忘れないようにアラームをかけます。
- Very common when taking precautions:
覚えるように – focuses on achieving a good result (remembering)
- Sounds more like “so that I can learn/memorize it”.
In the context of writing a PIN on a memo, we normally think of it as a precaution against forgetting, not as a “study/memorization exercise,” so 忘れないように is the natural choice.
Yes, in this usage ように functions as a set grammatical expression.
- よう by itself can mean “appearance, way, manner.”
When you add に, it becomes an adverbial form (“in such a way that”), and in the pattern Verb + ように, it is usually understood as:
- so that ~ / in order that ~
- (aiming) for a state or result to happen / not happen
Examples:
- 風邪をひかないように、マスクをします。
So that I don’t catch a cold, I wear a mask. - 聞こえるように、大きな声で話してください。
Please speak loudly so that (we) can hear.
So you can think of ように here as one chunk: “so that …”.
First, the components:
- メモ – memo, note
- に – location/target marker
- 書いて – te‑form of 書く (to write)
- おきます – auxiliary verb meaning “do (and leave it that way) / do in advance”
メモに書く literally means “to write on a memo/note.”
Here に marks the surface/medium on which you write (like “on” in English).
Contrast:
- メモを書く – to write a memo (the memo itself is what you create)
- メモに書く – to write something on a memo
In this sentence, what you write is the PIN, and the medium is the memo:
- (預金口座の暗証番号を) メモに書いておきます。
I’ll write (the PIN) on a note (and leave it there for future reference).
書いておきます is 書く (to write) in te‑form + おく, which adds the idea of “doing something in advance / leaving it done for future convenience.”
- 書きます – I will write (simple action).
- 書いておきます – I will write it and leave it there as a preparation / have it ready for later.
So:
メモに書きます。
I’ll write it on a note. (neutral)
メモに書いておきます。
I’ll write it on a note so that it will be there when I need it / as a precaution.
This fits perfectly with 忘れないように – both express taking a preventative measure for the future.
Japanese often omits the subject when it’s clear from context.
- There is no explicit 私 (I) in:
預金口座の暗証番号を忘れないように、メモに書いておきます。
But given that:
- It’s something personal (your own account and PIN).
- The verb is in polite form (〜ます).
The natural interpretation is:
- (I) will write it down so that (I) don’t forget the bank account PIN.
If you wanted to include the subject explicitly:
- 私は預金口座の暗証番号を忘れないように、メモに書いておきます。
As for me, so that I don’t forget the bank account PIN, I’ll write it down on a note.
You can move the “reason/purpose” clause to the end, and it is still grammatical:
- メモに書いておきます。預金口座の暗証番号を忘れないように。
I’ll write it down on a note. So that I don’t forget the bank account PIN.
Or in one sentence:
- メモに書いておきます、預金口座の暗証番号を忘れないように。
However:
- The standard, most natural word order is [reason/purpose] + 、+ [main action]:
- 預金口座の暗証番号を忘れないように、メモに書いておきます。
The comma 、 simply marks a boundary between the purpose clause and the main clause. It’s not grammatically required but is highly recommended for readability in this structure.