闇
医者
が手術中
に酔
っ払
っていてはかなわない。
It’s too much to deal with when the back-alley doctor is drunk during surgery.

Yo, check it. 「てはかなわない」 is what you bust out when you just can’t deal with somethin’. It’s like, the situation is so outta control, so annoyin’, or so extreme that you can’t stand it. It’s got this vibe of “I can’t take this anymore,” or “This is just too much for me to handle.” You ain’t just sayin’ you dislike it; you’re sayin’ it’s beatin’ you down, that you’re throwin’ in the towel ’cause it’s unbearable. It’s often used for stuff you can’t control, like your boss bein’ a pain or the weather messin’ up your hustle. You feel me? It’s a complaint, straight up, but with a sense of resignation, like you’ve already lost the fight.

Here’s how you get this piece ready for the streets.
| Verb/Adjective Form | Rule | Example | English Translation |
| Verb (て-form) | Verb-て + はかなわない | こんなにうるさくされてはかなわない。 | If they’re gonna be this loud, I can’t deal with it. |
| い-adjective (くて-form) | Adj-くて + はかなわない | 毎日こんなに寒くてはかなわない。 | I can’t stand it being this cold every day. |
| な-adjective (で-form) | Adj-で + はかなわない | 仕事がこんなに面倒ではかなわない。 | I can’t take it if the job is this much of a hassle. |
Peep this: you just take your verb or adjective and flip it into its て-form. For verbs, it’s the good ol’ て-form you learned back in the day. For い-adjectives, you drop the い and add 「くて」. For な-adjectives, you stick a 「で」 on the end. After that, you just slap 「はかなわない」 right after it. Sometimes, the 「は」 gets dropped in casual talk, so you might hear 「てかなわない」. It’s all the same hustle, just a different flow.

Think of 「てはかなわない」 like the final boss in a video game that you just can’t beat. You’ve tried every combo, used every power-up, but this dude is just too much. Every time he hits you with his special move (the annoying situation), you’re like, “Man, I can’t win against this!” That feelin’ of bein’ completely overwhelmed and havin’ no choice but to admit defeat? That’s the soul of 「てはかなわない」. You ain’t happy about it, but you know you’ve been straight up beat.

Aight, here’s some new vocabulary to add to your little black book.
懸賞金 (けんしょうきん)
English: Bounty; reward money.
A bounty is that paper, that cheese, that bag they put on somebody’s head. If some cat messes up bad, goes against the family, or snitches to the feds, the big bosses might put a price on ’em. That means whoever takes ’em out or brings ’em in, they get paid. It’s a cold world, and that bounty turns everyone into a hunter, you dig? It’s all about that skrilla, that bread that says “this dude is a problem, and we payin’ to solve it.”
借金取り (しゃっきんとり)
English: Debt collector.
A debt collector, that’s the muscle, the enforcer. When you owe some serious dough to the wrong people, they don’t send you a polite letter, nah. They send the shakkin-tori. This ain’t no regular nine-to-fiver. This dude shows up at your door, in your spot, and he ain’t askin’ nicely. He’s there to collect what’s owed, one way or another. He’s the reason you don’t play with other people’s money. Word is bond, and if you break it, he’s the consequence.
ヘマ (Hema)
English: Screw-up; blunder; mistake.
So a hema is when you drop the ball, big time. You had one job, one simple move to make, and you mess it up. Maybe you talk when you should be quiet, you miss the target, or you trust the wrong snake. It’s that “oh, damn!” moment. A hema can get you clipped, get your whole crew busted. In this game, there ain’t no room for errors. You make a hema, you pay the price. Simple as that. It’s a rookie move, and we ain’t no rookies.
指名手配される (しめいてはいされる)
English: To be on the wanted list.
When you get on the wanted list, that means your face is everywhere. The five-o, the feds, they got your picture plastered all over the news, in the post office, everywhere. You’re public enemy number one. You gotta lay low, switch up your look, maybe even skip town. Every cop is lookin’ for you, and even regular citizens might rat you out for that reward money. It’s a bad look, means you’re too hot, and you gotta move like a ghost if you wanna stay free.
狙撃される (そげきされる)
English: To be sniped.
This is the ultimate bad end. To be sniped, that means someone takes you out from a distance. You don’t even see it comin’. One minute you’re walkin’ down the street, thinkin’ you’re the man, the next… lights out. It’s a pro move, a hit from a marksman with a long-range rifle. No talkin’, no face-to-face confrontation. Just a clean, cold finish. It means you made an enemy who don’t play games and wants you gone, permanently. That’s some real gangster movie stuff right there.

Check out how the real Gs use this joint.
俺
の首
にかかった懸賞金
が高
すぎてはかなわない。
The bounty on my head is so damn high, it’s just too much trouble.
こんなにたくさんの借金取
りに追
われてはかなわない。
I can’t handle being chased by this many debt collectors.
弟分
がヘマばかりしてはかなわない。
My underling messing up all the time is just too much to deal with.
この安物
の拳銃
はすぐ弾
詰
まりしてはかなわない。
This cheap pistol jamming all the time is unbearable.
アジトがこんなに寒
くてはかなわない。
I can’t deal with the hideout being this damn cold.
見張
りの仕事
が退屈
ではかなわない。
This lookout duty is so boring I can’t take it.
指名
手配
されて、自由
に街
を歩
けなくてはかなわない。
Being on the most wanted list and not being able to walk the streets freely is unbearable.
外
に出
るたびに狙撃
されてはかなわない。
I can’t stand getting sniped at every single time I step outside.
報告書
の誤字
一
つで指
を詰
めさせられてはかなわない。
Having to cut off my pinky for a single typo in a report is just too much.
下水道
に何
時間
も潜伏
していては、臭
くてかなわない。
Hiding out in the sewer for hours on end… I can’t stand this stink.
Aight, that’s the lesson for today, playas. Keep your head up, your Japanese tight, and don’t let nobody mess with your hustle. Now go out there and own it.
Peace out, stay true.


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