# みんなでむだなことするのも



## kanojo_

みんなでまだなことするのも、
悪くないじゃないかな。だってわたしたちにはまだまだたくさん時間があるんだから。

Hello,

I have problems with re-writing the sentences. I have heard them in a Japanese drama but I'm not sure if I have written them correctly. I'm particurarly confused over the second part of the first sentence- みんなでまだなことするのも。 As far as I know it should mean "doing silly things together".

Thanks!


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## unprimesuspect

> みんなでま (ma) だなことするのも。



I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be:みんなでむ (mu) だなことするのも​


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## almostfreebird

kanojo_ said:


> みんなでまだなことするのも、
> 悪くないじゃないかな。だってわたしたちにはまだまだたくさん時間があるんだから。
> 
> Hello,
> 
> I have problems with re-writing the sentences. I have heard them in a Japanese drama but I'm not sure if I have written them correctly. I'm particurarly confused over the second part of the first sentence- みんなでまだなことするのも。 As far as I know it should mean "doing silly things together".
> 
> Thanks!



Hi.
Actually, 無駄なこと(muda na koto)＝useless things, silly things
So it’s going to be：

みんなで無駄なことするのも、
悪くない*ん*じゃないかな。だってわたしたちにはまだまだたくさん時間があるんだから。(It’s not so bad to do silly things together, isn’t it? Cuz we still have a lot of time.)


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## kanojo_

Thanks, that's exactly it. It is funny how I can now hear the correct version without problems.

(I guess it is against the rules to ask the role of のも　in  みんなで無駄なことするのも? )


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## almostfreebird

kanojo_ said:


> Thanks, that's exactly it. It is funny how I can now hear the correct version without problems.
> 
> (I guess it is against the rules to ask the role of のも　in  みんなで無駄なことするのも? )




無駄な事(こと)する*の*も＝無駄な事(こと)する*事(こと)*も     

"も" means "too" or "also".

OK let me put this way.

#1  それ*も*悪くないね。(It's not bad either)
#2  それ*は*悪くないね。(It's not bad)　

#1 and #2 are almost the same. #2 is a little emphatic. #1 is a little objective and more casual than #2.


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## kanojo_

So, if I understand it correctly, the sentence sounds something like: it is not bad to do silly things together (either?)


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## almostfreebird

kanojo_ said:


> So, if I understand it correctly, the sentence sounds something like: it is not bad to do silly things together (either?)




If you translate it literally, yes, you’re right.
But you dont have to put "either" in that sentence. At least when we say something like "It's not bad", we habitually say "それ*も*悪くないね" in casual conversation for some unknown reason. You may consider it to be a kind of idiom or a slang..........no, it is not slang.


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## Flaminius

> You may consider it to be a kind of idiom or a slang.


It is not slang; for _-mo_ in this construction can be seen across many speech levels, including very formal and very casual.

Comparing
1. むだなことするのも悪くない and
2. むだなことするのは悪くない,
I find Sentence 2 implying the only good thing for them to do is "act silly."  In other words it has a very limited scope for what is 悪くない.  In contrast, Sentence 1 does state doing silly things is okay for them but does not exclude the possibility that doing other things is equally desirable and they actually engage in them.

Stating the exact conditions when _-mo_ is preferred may be a good stuff for Ph.D. dissertations.  For the time being, I am under the impression that _-mo_ is more frequently applied for a new topic that has just turned up in the conversation.  Particle _-mo_ is motivated by awareness of parallels.  Applying a legalistic term, I consider _-mo_ as a postposition that asserts "without prejudice."


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## BlackWizard

Adding to almostfreebird's explanation... 

With は, you're defining "doing pointless things" as being "not bad". with も, you're saying of all the "not bad" things out there, "doing pointless things" is one of them. 

So in this case, if I were to be translating this to English, I'd use:

みんなで無駄なことするのは悪くない = Doing stupid things together is not a bad thing.
みんなで 無駄なことするのも悪くない = It's okay to do stupid things together (sometimes).

...In the latter, "sometimes" is implied, since we're talking about something negative.


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## kanojo_

All your explanations are very clear. Even though my Japanese ability is not as good as to fully understand (let alone form !) the kind of sentences I provided at once, I can understand the logic behind them nonetheless. Thanks


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## almostfreebird

The funny thing is when I say "それも悪くないね", I've never thought of grammatical thing, let alone Fluminus's explanation.


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