GrammarN5〜てもいい

JLPT N5 · permission

〜てもいい~te mo ii

"may / it's OK to (do)" — giving or asking permission.

What it means

Attach もいい(です) to a verb's て-form to say an action is allowed — "you may do X / it's OK to do X." Literally it's "even if you do X, it's fine." To ask permission, add か: 〜てもいいですか ("may I…?"). To refuse it, you switch to 〜てはいけない / だめ ("you must not").

How to make it

verb て-form + もいい
べて + もいい = 食べてもいい (may eat)
+ もいい = 見てもいい (may look)
for ぐ/ぶ/む/ぬ verbs, て → で: およいで + もいい = 泳いでもいい

may / it's OK

may I…?

don't have to

may not

Examples — real lines from the library

Every one of these is a real line from a real episode in our podcast transcripts — pulled by the finder and verified against the live library. Tap the line to open the app at that exact second.

You may eat anything but this. (granting)
You can stop there, too. (an option)
You can swim, too. (voiced で)
I can just take it easy today. (casual · も dropped)

Watch out

Get the て-form right first. もいい just rides on it: 食べて → 食べてもいい, んで → 飲んでもいい. For ぐ/ぶ/む/ぬ verbs the て becomes : およいでもいい, んでもいい.
Asking vs granting. Add か to ask: 〜てもいいですか ("may I?"). A plain 〜てもいいです grants it ("you may"). To say no, use 〜てはいけません or だめ.
Don't confuse it with 〜なくてもいい. Add なくても and the meaning flips to "you don't have to": なくてもいい (you don't have to go).
🗣 In real speech, も drops. With friends you just say 〜ていい?べていい? ("can I eat this?") — rising intonation, no も. Textbook 〜てもいいですか becomes casual 〜ていい?, and "sure, go ahead" comes back as いいよ.

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