must do, have to do
Structure
- Verb[な
いく・て]・は・いけない
The note on this grammar point (and all the other “must do” ones really) says the following:
[いけない = neutral ・ならない = formal/written・だめ = casual/conversational]
But both Japanese Ammo and Tae Kim say that いけない and ならない are the same when it comes to formality, but ならない is more objective (e.g. rules) and いけない is more subjective.
Edit: NihonOnTheGo phrases it quite nicely
The difference between ならない and いけない is that ならない implies a sense of obligation—as in it’s just something that has to be done; like paying taxes, obeying the laws, etc.—It’s inevitable. いけない, however, has a nuance that infers the “inconvenient consequences” of not doing something.
Did i missunderstand this in some way? And if so, what source is the Bunpro note pulled from? (So I can read up on it)
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Hey 
I completely agree with those descriptions.
The note will be changed soon.
Sorry for the inconvienience 
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So what exactly is the difference between this grammar point and なくちゃ・なきゃ in terms of usage?
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Hey and sorry for the late answer 
なくちゃ is a contracted form of なくては and なきゃ is a contraction of なければ, in other words, they are more casual forms.
So when you want to be more casual, or say it faster, you go with those.
It is similar to I’m and I am in English.
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My Italki teacher used the construction ないといけない. It seemed to mean the same thing, but I couldn’t find this grammar on Bunpro. Just wanted to mention it here, if it’ll be considered worthwhile to add on its own or at least have a notation about it on similar grammar 
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Hey 
It has been on the to-do list 
For the time being, I will add information about it in “must do” grammar points!
Cheers!
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Oh awesome! Thanks so much x3
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The information about the existence of ないといけない・ならない has been added to the “must” grammar points!
We will try to add the ないといけない and ナイトならない as fast as possible. 
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By the way, we have added ないといけない!
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Why is なければいけない marked wrong for these questions? What is the difference between なければいけない and なくてはいけない?
@petepolack Hey! We throw hints for なければいけない answers because we have a separate grammar point dedicated to なければいけない and we want you to get ample practice with both variations. You should be seeing a hint to use なくて rather than なければ when typing your answer to lead you in the right direction. Both grammar points are very similar, and the difference between the two really only boils down to state (なくては) and possibility (なければ). Cheers!
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I’m just wondering why a double-negative construction is used in this grammar - it’s something that always trips me up and I feel if I had a better grasp on the why then it might stick in my head better.
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It’s likely to be a matter of culture. Instead of saying “must” or “have to”, which are a blunt way to convey being forced to do something, in Japanese we use something like “if this is not, it cannot go”,or in English terms: “It is not acceptable if this is not done”.
So tactful 
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Ah okay, yes that makes sense - it’s ironic that Zen Buddhism is known for its directness yet the language goes out of its way to avoid that 
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What if the Zen Buddhism is a reaction to the culture? 
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Just a short question if I may … what is meant by “long form て”? I know (in theory at least) what the て-form is, but what is “long form て”, and is there also a “short form て” too?
Oh, and it’s just turned Christmas here (I’m doing some reviews so as to not lose my streak), so Happy Christmas everyone! 
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Me again, sorry! It’s just that I notice that this “long form て” comes up on every review question, and I’ve still not figured out what “long form て” means!
Can anyone help? Thanks!
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“Colloquial short form of ば”
Okay, I’m utterly lost now. Typing this here rather than taking a hammer to my computer! lol!
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This “long form” and “short form” isn’t a grammar term; it refers to whether bunpro wants an unabbreviated way to say “must” or a shorter, more colloquial one (e.g. なくてはいけない vs なくちゃ).
て and ば refer to which pattern to say “must” is used (…なくては… vs. …なければ…, and …ないと… also exists).
いく refers to which word is used in the second part (いけない / ならない / だめ) if one exists.
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