Which is the proper way to say "I don't X"?


I thought if you say "I don't smoke cigarettes" that would be "[Watashi wa]
tabako o suimasen". But I just saw something that said it would be "tabako wa
suimasen". Are they interchangable? Is there a difference?




There are actually three options.

>   1. [タバコを吸いません]{LLLLLLLLL}  
>  tobacco-OBJ smoke-NEG-POLITE  
>  "I don't smoke tobacco."
>
>   2. [タバコは吸いません]{LLLLLLLLL}  
>  tobacco-TOP smoke-NEG-POLITE  
>  "I don't smoke tobacco."
>
>   3. [タバコは吸いません]{LLLHLLLLL}  
>  tobacco-CON smoke-NEG-POLITE  
>  "I don't smoke _tobacco_ , (but I do smoke something else)."
>
>

1 and 2, (marking タバコ with the object marker and topic marker, respectively),
are semantically the same.

However, 3 (marking タバコ with the contrastive marker, which is also は but has a
raised pitch) has the implication that you smoke something else.

So, to answer your question, for a transitive verb, marking the object with を
or は both always work (assuming that you aren't constructing an embedded
clause), but depending on how は is pronounced, it can potentially have the
contrastive meaning.




There are actually three options.

>   1. [タバコを吸いません]{LLLLLLLLL}  
>  tobacco-OBJ smoke-NEG-POLITE  
>  "I don't smoke tobacco."
>
>   2. [タバコは吸いません]{LLLLLLLLL}  
>  tobacco-TOP smoke-NEG-POLITE  
>  "I don't smoke tobacco."
>
>   3. [タバコは吸いません]{LLLHLLLLL}  
>  tobacco-CON smoke-NEG-POLITE  
>  "I don't smoke _tobacco_ , (but I do smoke something else)."
>
>

1 and 2, (marking タバコ with the object marker and topic marker, respectively),
are semantically the same.

However, 3 (marking タバコ with the contrastive marker, which is also は but has a
raised pitch) has the implication that you smoke something else.

So, to answer your question, for a transitive verb, marking the object with を
or は both always work (assuming that you aren't constructing an embedded
clause), but depending on how は is pronounced, it can potentially have the
contrastive meaning.

