Questions regarding the various words, particles, inflections, and constructions employed to negate a word or sentence from its positive form.
26
votes
4answers
2k views
Is じゃないです equally correct as じゃありません?
Text books normally teach that the negative of です is じゃありません.
However it seems very common to hear native Japanese use じゃないです.
Is this slang or somehow less correct than じゃありません?
Would it be marked ...
23
votes
7answers
944 views
Difference between negative forms {-ず} and {-ぬ}
{-ず} and {-ぬ} are two alternatives to the negative form {-ない} / {-ません}. But I noticed that depending on the word, it's either {-ず} or {-ぬ}, although it seems like some words can take both suffixes. ...
6
votes
1answer
564 views
Difference between ~なきゃ and ~なくちゃ
I know what one of them is なくてはいけません and the other one なければなりません, I just don't know which is which, also a few example sentences would help a lot, thank you.
15
votes
3answers
823 views
The reality of answering いいえ to a negative question
tl;dr: when answering a negative question, can いいえ be used to affirm what the question states as a whole?
I came to Japan at the age of six, and I guess I pass as a normal native speaker of Japanese ...
9
votes
4answers
558 views
In what way is the negative form of a verb an adjective?
I was reading the wikipedia page on "predicate," where it mentioned that in Japanese, the negative form of a verb is an adjective. I thought that this was too expansive a statement to be true, but ...
17
votes
5answers
774 views
Does -ou / -you / -mashou conjugation have a negative form?
Does the -ou / -you / -mashou (the "let's X") form have a negative counterpart? For example, how do I say "let's not X" for the following?:
行こう
食べよう
寝ましょう
As far as I can remember, the Japanese ...
6
votes
3answers
476 views
What does “+ra shinai” conjugation mean?
In episode 76 of Fairy Tail, Gildarts said this to Natsu:
本気でそう思ったら、止めらしないよ。 (honki de sou omottara, tomera shinai yo)
Which was translated in the subtitle as:
If that's what you honestly ...
10
votes
2answers
263 views
About the な part in negative imperative verb form (e.g. 飲むな)
In the Japanese version of "don't drink and drive" slogan, 【乗るなら飲むな】 (also 【飲んだら乗るな】), what part of speech is the な that follows the plain verb 飲む (or 乗る in the second variation) to form the negative ...
14
votes
2answers
285 views
Why is it なさそう and not なそう
"It seems there is none" is なさそう, which escapes the usual rule for 形容詞 (イ-adjectives), which says "drop the い and add そう".
Is there a historical explanation for this exception? And does it have ...
7
votes
2answers
295 views
What is the difference between 言うな！ and 言ってんじゃねぇぞ?
1) What is the difference between 言うな！ and 言ってんじゃねぇぞ!, in other words can we use them interchangeably at all times?
2) which is ruder?
