Today’s Grammar Point: ～ないかなあ

I talked about ～なあ being used to express one’s wish in this post but some wishes are expressed in the negative form of ～ないかなあ even though you are wishing for affirmative result.

Connection

• [ないform verb] かなあ

Examples

来年らいねんは日本にほんに行いけないかなあ。
I wish I could go to Japan next year.

雨あめが降ふらないかなあ。
I wish it would rain!

タクシーが来こないかなあ。
I wish a taxi would come!

合格ごうかくしないかなあ。
I wish I would pass the text!

ジョンさんが来こないかなあ。
I wish John would come!

If you are wishing for somebody to help you or do something for you, it can be expressed as:

• [てform verb] くれないかなあ
• [てform verb] もらえないかなあ

ジョンさんが来きてくれないかなあ。
I wish John comes for me!

誰だれか助たすけてくれないかなあ。
I wish somebody could help me!

誰だれかに助たすけてもらえないかなあ。
I wish somebody could give us a hand.

～ないかな

Having said that ～ないかな（あ） can sometimes be used as an expression of a small question or concern like “I wonder ～.” In this meaning, people usually say it short (i.e. ～かな rather than ～かなあ) and ～かな can follow the ないform of an adjective or a noun.

メアリーさんはこんなことはしないかな。
I wonder if Mary would do such a thing.

ジョンさんは今日きょうは来こないかな。
I wonder if John will come today (he may not come).

これはジョンさんは食たべないかな。
I wonder if John will eat this.

砂糖さとうを入いれたら、おいしくないかな。
I wonder if it is nice if I put some sugar in.

ジョンさんは真面目まじめじゃないかな。
I wonder if John is serious.

あれは新幹線しんかんせんじゃないかな。
I wonder if that is a Shinkansen train.

ないかな（あ） can be replaced with ないかしら although that sounds quite feminine.

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