Breakdown of sensei no namae o machigaenai you ni, memo o mimasu.
をo
direct object particle
先生sensei
teacher
のno
possessive case particle
見るmiru
to look at
Questions & Answers about sensei no namae o machigaenai you ni, memo o mimasu.
What does 間違えないように mean in this sentence?
間違えないように means so that I don’t get it wrong or in order not to make a mistake.
Here, the thing you do not want to get wrong is 先生の名前 (the teacher’s name).
So the structure is:
- 先生の名前を間違えないように
- so that I don’t get the teacher’s name wrong
This part explains the purpose of the action in the second part of the sentence: メモを見ます (I look at my notes).
Why is 間違えない negative?
It is negative because the sentence expresses avoiding something.
- 間違える = to make a mistake / to get something wrong
- 間違えない = to not make a mistake / to not get something wrong
So:
- 間違えないように = so as not to get it wrong
In English, this is very natural too:
- I look at my notes so that I don’t get the teacher’s name wrong.
The negative form is not making the whole sentence negative. It is only saying what the speaker wants to avoid.
Why is ように used here?
