From what I understand, they both mean "is not". But from what I've been able to gather from the few times I've heard it, it seems that あるまい may not be as strong or definitive as ありません. Am I on the right track here? Also, can まい be used with any verb ex: 飲むまい or just with ある?
2 Answers
ません
expresses negation in polite form.まい
expresses a guess or intentional future, both in negation. So its entailment is weaker thanません
, but implies willingness. A close counterpart in English isshall not
as opposed towill not
.まい
can be used with other verbs as well.
もう酒は飲みません
'I will not drink liquor any more.' (polite)もう酒は飲むまい
'I shall not drink liquor any more.' (guess)
'I shall not drink liquor any more.' (declaration)
I think あるまい is a literary version of ないだろう.
飲むまい means 飲まないだろう(I think s/he won't drink)/飲まないでおこう(I won't drink), no?
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@dotnetN00b-san, Tsuyoshi-san's answer will help japanese.stackexchange.com/q/4748/1016– user1016Feb 23, 2012 at 14:06