そしたら、車、押さなくてもいいでしょ

"So we don't have to push the car"
「そしたら、くるま、おさなくてもいいでしょ」

Maybe you are wondering what I am talking about. Okay, my car's reverse does not work very well. Maybe it is impossible for some people to believe that such cars exist in 21st century. But they do! You just need to be careful to choose the street and a parking lot. Yesterday, my husband and I went to a Blockbuster store. I wanted to park in a big parking lot instead of the small one in front of the Blockbusters. I am glad my husband listened to me! (Sometimes he doesn't.) It is not cool to push your car and to see people are laughing at you!

The polite form of this is そうしたら、車を押さなくてもいいですよね（そうしたら、くるまをおさなくてもいいですよね）. I should explain this more. そしたら is more casual than そうしたら, but you can hear it all the time. In the polite form, I added を after くるま or "a car." 押さなくてもいい（おさなくてもいい） is "not necessary to push." I wrote about なくてもいい in my book "Speak Like Native Speakers Japanese Verb Conjugation I":

"Nakutemo ii expresses that the action is not necessary, and literally means 'it's ok if you don't'" (158).

でしょ is more casual than ですよね which sounds like "is that right?" or "don't you think so?" Don't use でしょ if you are talking to somebody you don't know very well, or older than you. It is rude. And I should say that でしょ sounds a little feminine. If you are a man talking to your close friend, use だろ. So it would be そしたら、車、押さなくてもいいだろ？ That sounds a man to me.


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