～なくていい　and　～ないでいい　/　少しくらい　/　passive + な(negative command)

Hello,

1) Are ～なくていい and ～ないでいい the same in meaning? On the internet only なくてもいい is mentioned, and there don't seem to be a lot of mentions on this subject, even though I've encountered ないでいい countless times in manga.

2) まあ 少しくらいならいっか・・・
Does くらい mean "approximately" here?

3) 上のかのんのことは気づかれるなよ。
The translation given for this is "Don't let her know about Kanon upstairs."
Is this the passive of adversity, and はstands for を here?

1)
The meanings are the same. As you can see in the following search results on Google(the former) and in a corpus(the latter), ないで（も）いい is really used, but not so common in books, newspapers, magazines or texts of laws, comparing to なくて（も）いい.

ないでもいい 50,600,000件 27件
なくてもいい 6,280,000件 1341件

ないでいい 501,000,000件 113件
なくていい 944,000,000件 1298件

As for the general difference between なくて and ないで, see the following post (you might remember it, though).

wasuremono o shinaide kudasai. shinaide?

2)

−くらい・−ぐらい
2 〔軽く見る気持ちで，その程度の〕
それくらいでは駄目だ
That will hardly do.
それくらいであわてるな
Don't get upset over such a small thing.
それぐらいは私でも知っている
Even I know that much.
あれくらいはなんでもなかった
That wasn't much.
それを買うぐらいの金なら持っている
I have enough money to buy it.
返事ぐらいしたらどうだ
You might at least answer me.
0点を取ったのは君ぐらいのものだ
You are (about) the only one who got a zero.
ほめるのはこれくらいにしてよ．きまりが悪くなる
You've praised me more than enough [I deserve]─it's embarrassing.

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くらいの英語・英訳 - 和英辞書 - goo辞書

3)
Since かのんのこと can't be the subject of 気づく, both を and に can be used to indicate the object. In other words, に always refers to the actual subject/agent of 気づく, not the object, when it has an ability to realize(not only people but also animals, monsters or something like that).

かのんのことを気づかれる ＝ かのんのことに気づかれる
犬に気づかれた ＝ 犬が気づいた
(犬 is not the object someone realized here. 犬がいることに/犬を飼ってることに気づかれた or like that is used for that meaning. In this case, に is interchangeable with を.)

3) But if you use に, how do you also say who notices. For かのんのことに気づかれる for example, how do you say that Kanon was noticed by that boy?

And this doesn't quite answer my initial question. Is this the passive of adversity, and は stands for を here? Because は can either replace が or を. I assume, from what you said, that it can't be が, but I want to make sure.

raikado said:

3) But if you use に, how do you also say who notices. For かのんのことに気づかれる for example, how do you say that Kanon was noticed by that boy?

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のこと shows it, AS I WROTE. It's quite the same as 君のことが好き ALWAYS means "I love you", not "you love someone/something".

raikado said:

And this doesn't quite answer my initial question. Is this the passive of adversity,

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Yes, of course. It's so obvious that it's needless to answer, no?(Well, at least to me.)

raikado said:

and は stands for を here?

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For を or に, AS I WROTE.

raikado said:

Because は can either replace が or を. I assume, from what you said, that it can't be が, but I want to make sure.

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君に能力がない。 ＝ 君には能力がない。 ＝ 君は能力がない。 ≠ 君が能力がない。 ≠ 君を能力がない。

に is also sometimes disappeared behind は when it's topicalized.

のこと shows it, AS I WROTE. It's quite the same as 君のことが好き ALWAYS means "I love you", not "you love someone/something".

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That's not what I meant.

So both かのんのことに気づかれるな and かのんのことを気づかれるな literally mean "Don't have Kanon noticed.". What if you also want to say whom to not get noticed by.

Maybe in the を case you could say かのんのことを彼にきづかれるな. But how do you say the same thing with かのんのことに, or is it even possible?

Also, it is not obvious to me. Or rather, I'm insecure enough to need confirmation.

raikado said:

Don't let her know about Kanon upstairs.

Click to expand...

raikado said:

how do you say that Kanon was noticed by that boy?

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Anyway, 彼 always refers to the subject of 気づく in 彼に気づかれる. So, を must be used to indicate the object. You can't use に in this case, yes.

Thanks! I'm sorry, I meant the second sentence as an example.