1

Is it

ピアノを弾いてやめました。

or

ピアノを弾きやめました。

Thanks

Flaw
  • 19,964
  • 9
  • 68
  • 175
dngr193
  • 165
  • 5

1 Answers1

7

Neither is correct. Unlike 始める or 終える which can follow almost any verb, やめる can not follow the masu-stem of an arbitrary verb. (There are a few fixed compound verbs like 取りやめる, though)

You have to use a nominalizer and say:

ピアノを弾くのをやめました。

Compare:

  • ピアノを弾き始めました。 I started playing the piano.
  • ピアノを弾き終えました。 I finished playing the piano.
naruto
  • 313,860
  • 13
  • 324
  • 625
  • Is the difference between "I stopped playing piano [now]" and "I stopped playing piano [altogether]" best translated as 「ピアノを弾き終えました」 and 「ピアノを弾くのをやめました」? Can you say 「ピアノをやめました」 for the latter? – Earthliŋ Oct 08 '17 at 13:08
  • hmm, I thought you could add やむ to stem verbs, like in 泣きやむ. Is this different because it is intransitive? Only possible with やむ and not やめる？ – kandyman Oct 08 '17 at 20:08
  • @Earthliŋ ピアノをやめました only means "I quit the habit of playing the piano" or "I ended my career as a pianist." ピアノを弾き終えました means finishing one particular performance. ピアノを弾くのをやめました can mean both depending on the context. – naruto Oct 09 '17 at 00:12
  • @kandyman I recommend you first visit this site and learn about syntactic compound verbs. 始める can directly follow any verb, やむ can follow some verbs, やめる can follow only very few verbs. Also please read this. You can say 泣き止む and 降り止む, but not 食べ止む nor 歩き止む. – naruto Oct 09 '17 at 00:15