Learn Hardcore Japanese: haha ha watasi ga byouki ni naranai you ni, yoru ha hayaku neru you ni iimasu. - My mother tells me to go to bed early at night so that I don’t get sick.

母は – As for my mother (topic)
私が病気にならないように、 – so that I don’t get sick (purpose clause 1)
夜は早く寝るように – to go to bed early at night (content of what she tells me to do)
言います。 – says / tells (me)

So overall:

Mother (topic) + says (to me) + “Go to bed early at night, so that you don’t get sick.”

The two ように phrases are:

病気にならないように – so that I don’t get sick (purpose)
早く寝るように言います – tells me to go to bed early (indirect command / reported instruction)

Why is 母 followed by は and not が?

は marks 母 as the topic of the sentence, not necessarily the grammatical subject in the narrow sense.

母は = As for my mother… / My mother (on the other hand / in this context)…

Using が (母が) would put strong focus on mother as the specific subject, as in “It’s my mother (and not someone else) who says this.” That would sound like you’re contrasting your mother with someone else.

Here, the sentence is simply about what your mother usually does, so 母は as the topic is natural and neutral.

Why is 私 marked with が instead of に or を?

In 私が病気にならないように, the part 私が病気になる is a full clause:

私が病気になる – I become sick.

In that clause, 私 is the subject, so it takes が.

The whole clause 私が病気にならない sits in front of ように, forming:

私が病気にならないように – so that I don’t become sick.

The 私 that acts as “me” (the person being told) is different: that would be 私に with 言います, but it’s omitted:

(母は) 私に夜は早く寝るように言います。
(My mother) tells *me to go to bed early at night.*

Japanese often omits 私に when it’s obvious whom the mother is talking to.

Why is 病気 followed by に in 病気にならない?

The pattern [noun] になる means to become [noun].

先生になる – to become a teacher
有名になる – to become famous
病気になる – to become sick

So:

病気にならない – do not become sick.

Here に marks the resulting state or role that something becomes. That’s why it’s 病気に and not, say, 病気を.

What exactly does ～ならないように mean here?

ならない is the negative plain form of なる (to become).

病気になる – to become sick
病気にならない – to not become sick

When you attach ように to a verb phrase like this, it often means so that … not / in order not to …:

病気にならないように – so that (I) don’t get sick / in order not to get sick.

So 私が病気にならないように is “so that I don’t become sick.” It expresses purpose or intended result.

I know ように sometimes means “like / as.” Is it the same ように here?

Same word, different usage.

Two common patterns with ように:

Similarity (“like / as”)
- 彼のように話す – speak like him
- 日本人のように上手に話しますね。 – You speak well, like a Japanese person.
Purpose / result (“so that / in such a way that”)
- 忘れないようにメモする。 – I write a note so that I won’t forget.
- 病気にならないように気をつける。 – I’m careful so that I don’t get sick.

In your sentence, both ように are in this purpose/result usage:

病気にならないように – so that I don’t get sick
早く寝るように言います – (she) tells me to go to bed early (i.e., “in such a way that I go to bed early” → an instruction).

Why are there two ように in the same sentence? Is that okay?

Yes, it’s natural, and they play slightly different roles:

私が病気にならないように、
→ purpose clause: so that I don’t get sick.
夜は早く寝るように言います。
→ indirect command / reported instruction: tells me to go to bed early at night.

You can think of it as:

Purpose: So that I don’t get sick,
Instruction: she tells me “Go to bed early at night.”

Japanese happens to use ように in both patterns, so it repeats, but it doesn’t sound strange to a native speaker.

Why is 夜 followed by は and not by に (like 夜に)?

Both are possible, but the nuance differs:

夜は – As for night / at night (in general)…
This uses は to set “night” as a topic time frame. It gives a more general or habitual feeling: “At night, (she tells me to…)”
夜に – at night (as a point in time).
This is more neutral, just marking time. 夜に早く寝る = “go to bed early at night.” Still correct, but slightly more neutral.

In a sentence describing a usual rule or habit, 夜は is very natural:

夜は早く寝る – (As for night,) I go to bed early. → a general routine.

Why is 寝る in plain dictionary form before ように?

Before ように (in the sense of “so that / to …”), the verb is typically in plain (dictionary) form:

忘れないようにする – try not to forget
間に合うように出かける – leave so as to be on time
早く寝るように言う – tell someone to go to bed early

So:

早く寝るように → literally “in such a way that (someone) goes to bed early,” which functions as “to go to bed early.”

It’s not imperative here; it’s the plain form that is being reported or quoted indirectly.

How does ～ように言います express “tell someone to do something”?

V-plain + ように言う is a common pattern meaning to tell (someone) to do V / to ask (someone) to do V.

静かにするように言われた。 – I was told to be quiet.
彼に早く来るように言ってください。 – Please tell him to come early.
夜は早く寝るように言います。 – (She) tells (me) to go to bed early at night.

It’s an indirect command / reported instruction. The direct version would be:

夜は早く寝なさい。 – Go to bed early at night. (direct command)

Your sentence uses the indirect form via ～ように言う.

Where is the “to me” in “tells me to go to bed early”? I don’t see 私に.

It’s understood and simply omitted.

The full version could be:

母は私が病気にならないように、夜は早く寝るように私に言います。

But Japanese strongly prefers to drop things that are obvious from context. Because 私が病気にならないように already shows 私 is the one whose health is being considered, it’s very natural to assume that 母 is talking to 私.

So 私に is grammatically possible, but usually left out in this kind of everyday sentence.

Why is 言います in the present tense? Is this something she does regularly?

Yes. In Japanese, the non-past form (言います) can express:

present habitual action: what someone usually / regularly does
generic truth / characteristic behavior

So:

母は夜は早く寝るように言います。
→ My mother tells me to go to bed early at night (habitually / as a rule).

If you wanted to say she told you (on a specific occasion), you’d say:

母は夜は早く寝るように言いました。
→ My mother told me to go to bed early at night. (past event)

What’s the difference between ～ように and ～ために in a sentence like this?

Both can express purpose, but there are tendencies:

～ために: often a more direct, intentional purpose, especially with volitional actions by the subject.
- 病気を治すために薬を飲む。 – I take medicine in order to cure my illness.
～ように: often used for
- hoped-for results or states not entirely under one’s direct control
- general desired outcome
- or with instructions / wishes (as here)

In your sentence:

私が病気にならないように – so that I don’t get sick (desired result, not a directly controlled action).

Using ために here (私が病気にならないために) is not wrong, but it can sound a bit more stiff or slightly off in nuance, because “not getting sick” is more like a hoped-for state than a clearly controlled goal. Native speakers overwhelmingly prefer ～ないように for “so that (something bad) doesn’t happen.”