Saying "let's not" in Japanese

Ah, Thank you! Not used to writing in Romaji… Also sorry I didn’t see your post with the same grammar.

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No need to apologize.

〜ないようにしよう is “let’s not”
sorry if this has been answered already, didn’t read the whole thread.

In the listening section of an N4 practice test やめたほうがいい was used. Context, the girl wants to pick out some pictures to send to her parents. The boy is helping her choose. At some point she’s like: what about this picture where I’m on my room? And he responds

部屋があまりきれいしゃないからやめたほうがいいよ。
The room is not that clean, so better not to do it.

I asked my teacher about it later and it is a common expression to say ‘not to do something’. So maybe this is a fast to respond in a ‘let’s not’ kind of way?

Sounds like a wise way of saying “STFU”. Love it :yum:.

〜ないようにしよう is “let’s not”
sorry if this has been answered already, didn’t read the whole thread.

Yeah, I covered that above, though it doesn’t fit the immediate circumstances of the OP’s question (pivoting from one decision to another, which would use less literal equivalents to “let’s not.”)

That works for habitual or upcoming actions though.

From tae kim:

In order to express “let’s not”, you can use the verb, 「やめる」 with the regular volitional. In order to express an effort to not do something, you can use 「ようにする」 with the negative verb.

明日に行くのをやめよう。
Let’s not go tomorrow. (lit: Let’s quit going tomorrow.)
肉を食べないようにしている。
Trying not to eat meat.
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おばあさんの家で食べないことにしましょう
Let’s not eat at your grandma’s house.

Carries a negative meaning that you don’t really want to eat there. You can specify that reason like so: ( a little bit advanced )
おばあさんの料理ってちょっと苦手なんで、だからそこで食べるよりもなんかレストランに一緒に行かない?

おばあさんの家ではなく、レストランで食べようか?
Let’s not eat at your grandma’s home, let’s eat at a restaurant.

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〜ないようにしよう
and
〜ないことにしよう
are very similar phrases however used in different situations.

怪我にならないようにしよう
Let’s try not to get injured.

Something that you have to beware of or try to make it happen. You don’t have direct control over.

映画に行かないことにしよう
Let’s not go to the movies.

Something you decide, and can ultimately control the outcome of within a decision. ( Doesn’t require constantly trying )

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〜ないでおきましょう
is used in situations when you want to avoid some outcome.

For example:
牡蠣(かき)を食べないでおきましょう。
Let’s avoid eating the Oyster. --Because you might get sick.
So you do something to prevent an outcome, and you focus on the object word.

It seems weird to say:
学校で勉強しないでおきましょう。 (If you don’t give a reason)
But fine to say:
その部屋に入らないでおきましょう

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ないようにする means “see to it that x doesn’t happen”, whereas ないことにする means “let’s pretend x didn’t happen” (or rather say: なかったことに).

did you quote me by mistake? because i’m pretty clear on what i tell people here.

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I didn’t quote you by mistake…
You understood one of the meanings for ことにしよう but you’re missing the other usage.

However ことにしよう is used in two different circumstances.

① Let’s not

試験の手順は今回忘れないことにしよう。
Direct Translation: Next time, Let’s not forget the testing procedures. (直訳)
Realistic Translation: Make sure that next time you know the testing procedures correctly, okay…?
もう会わないことにしよう
Direct Translation: Let’s not meet up any more.
Realistic Translation: I don’t want to ever see you again.

② Next is your interpretation of the meaning:

見なかったことにしよう。
Lets pretend I didn’t see that.

聞かなかったことにしよう
Lets pretend I didn’t hear that.

that’s the same as 会わないようにしよう, you only stuffed the clause into a noun. it’s not a grammar point as such.
you could stuff the whole construct into any noun, we just happen to use よう frequently, that’s why i mentioned it here.

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