何かいいことないかな。

Sentence Discussions Japanese
#1

“ない” being used here is very interesting.
I still don’t quite get the sense that Japanese people want something but humbly pretend that they don’t want it just to be polite? Doesn’t saying this already expose their wanting (greediness)? XD

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#2

You forget that it’s a question. English does the same:
Don’t you want to go? (meaning: You do want to go, don’t you?)
Isn’t there anything I can do? (meaning: I wish there was something I can do.)

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#3

@Hoytesler
Very interesting question! We actually say both:

  1. 何かいいことないかな？

  2. 何かいいことあるかな？

I cannot give you a concrete rule of distinction between them, but we often say いいことあるかな when a certain event or occasion is scheduled/planned. The speaker wishes something nice would happen under such a circumstance. In other words, a premise is fixed and clearer.

On the other hand, we say いいことないかな, wishing a good luck in general under any circumstances.

For example, you have nothing to do today, are strolling around your neighborhood and just say 何かいいことないかな. If you and your friend are in a baseball stadium and wishing a big chance for your favorite team, you would say 次のイニング、何かいいことあるかな. The next inning, in this case, is “a certain circumstance”.

I guess we prefer いいこと + ある when the probability of good luck is a little higher in a more realistic scenario. In order to manage our own expectation, we say いいこと + ない instead.

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#4

本当にありがとうございました！ :smiling_face:
After reading your explanation, things have become clearer to me! It indeed takes a great deal of time to appreciate the subtleties of Japanese.

In short, they’re both implying the probability of outcome:
“ない” predicts a lower chance of a good thing happening, whereas “ある” predicts a higher chance of a good thing happening of a prepared event.

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#5

@Hoytesler
I have an additional explanation I should’ve told you earlier. The difference is not only about the probability but also the degree of one’s expectation. For example,

  1. 何か美味しそうなものはないかなぁ。

  2. 何か美味しそうなものはあるかなぁ。

I prefer the former expression with ない when I shop around several delicatessen stores in a shopping mall to buy something delicious. If Store X doesn’t offer it, I’m okay and will just move onto Store Y and Z. In this case, my expectation isn’t so high and isn’t limited to Store X.

I prefer the latter expression with ある when I visit a delicatessen X, which offers different types of foods everyday and I was satisfied with the quality in the past. In other words, I’m a repeat customer of Store X. And I expect that Store X keeps offering something delicious. My expectation is specifically toward this Store X.

Hope this helps.

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