Because the negative comes last, Japanese speakers often soften or leave out the ending entirely when refusing.
Short answer: Japanese puts “not” at the very end, inside the verb, adjective or です. Polite verbs change ます to ません; plain verbs take ない (食べない, 書かない). い-adjectives change い to くない, and nouns and な-adjectives use じゃない. For the past, ない becomes なかった. There is no word like English “not” that floats free in the sentence.
Polite negatives: ません and ませんでした
The easiest negatives: replace ます with ません, or ました with ませんでした. They work the same for every verb.
Plain negatives: the ない form
The ない form is used with friends, in writing, and inside many longer patterns. Group 2 drops る and adds ない; Group 1 moves its last sound to the a-row (う becomes わ); the irregulars must be learned.
ない form
Meaning
From
tabenai
not eat
食べる (Group 2)
minai
not see
見る (Group 2)
kakanai
not write
書く (く → か)
nomanai
not drink
飲む (む → ま)
hanasanai
not speak
話す (す → さ)
matanai
not wait
待つ (つ → た)
kawanai
not buy
買う (う → わ)
shinai
not do
する (irregular)
konai
not come
来る (irregular, read こ)
ある → ない
The verb ある (there is) has the irregular negative ない, not あらない. The polite form is regular: ありません.
お金okanemoneyがga(subject)ないnaithere isn’t
Okane ga nai.“I have no money. (casual)”Why:ない is the plain negative of ある.
時間jikantimeがga(subject)ありませんarimasenthere isn’t
Jikan ga arimasen.“I don’t have time.”Why:Polite: ありません.
Adjectives and nouns
い-adjectives carry their own negative. Nouns and な-adjectives put it on です.
い-adjective
な-adjective
noun
The negative past: なかった
Every ない ends like an い-adjective, so its past is なかった: 食べなかった (didn’t eat), 高くなかった (wasn’t expensive), 学生じゃなかった (wasn’t a student). Add です to make any of them polite.
Not much, not at all
Some adverbs only appear with a negative and set how strong it is.
ないで or なくて
Both are negative て forms. ないで means “without doing” or “instead of doing”; なくて gives a reason: “because (I) didn’t”.
Example
Meaning
Form
asagohan o tabenaide dekaketa
went out without breakfast
ないで: without
basu ni noranaide aruita
walked instead of taking the bus
ないで: instead of
wakaranakute komatta
I didn’t understand and was stuck
なくて: reason
aenakute zannen desu
a pity we couldn’t meet
なくて: reason
Must and don’t have to
Two common patterns are built from negatives. The full explanation is on the obligation page.
ない方がいい: better not
Plain negative + 方がいい gives advice not to do something.
無理murioverdoing itしないshinainot do方がいいhō ga iibetterですよdesu yo(telling you)
Muri shinai hō ga ii desu yo.“You’d better not push yourself.”Why:A caring piece of advice.
生水namamizuunboiled waterはwa(topic)飲まないnomanainot drink方がいいhō ga iibetter
Namamizu wa nomanai hō ga ii.“Better not to drink unboiled water.”Why:は for the thing to avoid.
Double negatives: not that I don’t
Japanese often uses two negatives to make a careful, partial yes. They are common in polite conversation and in writing.
行かないikanainot goわけwakereason, caseじゃないja naiis not
Ikanai wake ja nai.“It’s not that I won’t go.”Why:A hesitant yes.
できないdekinaican’tことkotothingはwa(topic)ないnaiis not
Dekinai koto wa nai.“It’s not impossible.”Why:Literally “it is not that it can’t be done”.
嫌いkiraidislikeじゃないja nainotけどkedobut
Kirai ja nai kedo…“I don’t dislike it, but…”Why:Not dislike ≠ like: the けど leaves the rest unsaid.
Check yourself: make it negative
Give the plain negative, then open the answer.
write書くkakuShow answer
書かない.
buy買うkauShow answer
買わない: う → わ.
there isあるaruShow answer
ない (irregular).
come来るkuruShow answer
来ない (こない).
goodいいiiShow answer
よくない.
quiet静かだshizuka daShow answer
静かじゃない.
eat食べるtaberuShow answer
食べない.
Softening a no
A direct いいえ, 行きません can sound abrupt in Japanese. Speakers soften a refusal by trailing off, apologising or giving a reason, and the listener understands the “no”.
A
土曜日doyōbiSaturdayパーティーpātīpartyにnito来ませんかkimasen kawon’t you come?
Doyōbi pātī ni kimasen ka. · “Would you like to come to a party on Saturday?”An invitation as a negative question.