気をつけなければ explanation


I have come across the phrase 気をつけなければ but I do not understand how it works.
Google translate says that it means "I have to be careful" but I can't find
which conjugation it is using. To me it looks like the provisional form but I
don't understand how that fits here. The full sentence is
両親を起こさないように気をつけなければならなかった.




_V-nak-ereba_ is an abbreviation of _V-nak-ereba naranai_. The literal
analysis of this is "if _(-ba)_ I don't _(-nai_ ) [verb], it won't do
_(naranai)_ ":

  * 気をつける be careful.
  * 気をつけない not be careful.
  * 気をつけなければ… if they're not careful… (it won't do).
  * 気をつけなければならない if they're not careful, it won't do (=they have to be careful).

Though that's the literal construction, the full expression is just the
common, everyday way of saying "I have to [verb]", which is the idiomatic
translation. Native speakers don't usually analyze its parts, just like
English speakers don't usually think of _breakfast_ as the interruption of
fasting, etc.




_V-nak-ereba_ is an abbreviation of _V-nak-ereba naranai_. The literal
analysis of this is "if _(-ba)_ I don't _(-nai_ ) [verb], it won't do
_(naranai)_ ":

  * 気をつける be careful.
  * 気をつけない not be careful.
  * 気をつけなければ… if they're not careful… (it won't do).
  * 気をつけなければならない if they're not careful, it won't do (=they have to be careful).

Though that's the literal construction, the full expression is just the
common, everyday way of saying "I have to [verb]", which is the idiomatic
translation. Native speakers don't usually analyze its parts, just like
English speakers don't usually think of _breakfast_ as the interruption of
fasting, etc.

