～ねばならない

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The ～ねばならない pattern is used to express "must/have to".

～ねばならない attaches to the negative stem (ない) form of verbs. Exception: する -> せねばならない.

E.g. 感覚かんかくを研とぎ澄すまさねばならない。 "I must sharpen my senses/intuition."

E.g. ピザ事件じけんの真相しんそうを解明かいめいせねばならない。 "I must uncover the truth of the pizza incident."

E.g. 殿とのが来くる前まえに何なんとかせねば......。 "We must do something before the lord arrives..."

～ねばならない is stiff/formal in tone and is mainly used in written contexts, or in old-fashioned sounding spoken contexts.

The shortened form ねば, as well as the more classical Japanese-sounding ねばならぬ, are also possible.

Summary

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  The ～ねばならない pattern is used to express "must/have to"

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  ～ねばならない is stiff/formal in tone and is mainly used in written contexts