Grammar › N4 · 03 Obligation, advice & negatives
〜なくちゃ: have to (casual)
N4 · 03 Obligation, advice & negatives
A spoken way to say you must do something.
Contraction of 〜なくては(いけない). Verb negative stem 〜なく + ちゃ. Similar to 〜なきゃ but slightly softer to some speakers. Used among friends and by yourself; the ending いけない is dropped. Avoid in formal writing.
Examples
もう行かなくちゃ。
I have to get going now.
明日テストだから、勉強しなくちゃ。
I have a test tomorrow, so I have to study.