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What does "わけでもない" mean in this sentence:　　

聞いただけでは忘れてしまうことがあるので、最近はつねにメモをとるようにしています。でも、いつも紙とペンを持っているわけでもないので根本的なところから変えようとしっかり睡眠をとったり

Is it わけ (referencing to the circumstance of not having pen and paper) + でもない? Or is it just わけではない　with も　instead of は.

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わけ　is attached to the phrase いつも紙とペンを持っている, in other words that/the case that i will always have a pen and paper

でもない is modifying わけ, in that it is not really that わけ

putting the two together, it's not the case that i will always have a pen and paper

in terms of the difference between も and は in this sentence for でもない・ではない, from Meaning of 「という訳でもないのだが」 :

"～という訳ではない" is a common set phrase which corresponds to "That is not to say ～" or "That doesn't mean ～", referring to what was already stated. Using でもない instead of ではない adds "not in particular" or "not really" feelings to the sentence.

I think this somewhat applies here. The basic grammar is ではない but でもない sounds more natural because でも instead of では has a nuance of "even" because of the "also" aspect of も.

So to give a more colloquial translation, "It's not like I'll always have a pen and paper" as opposed to "I will not always have a pen and paper"

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  • Ⅰ was think the same about でも meaning "even" but I wasn't sure that でもない could have that nuance too
    – Jon
    Jan 20, 2017 at 2:37
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    Hm, it's a little hard to explain but it isn't necessarily the meaning of "even" that's at play, but more the fact that, say if I asked someone これですか? and they replied それでもない, that would mean that I either previously asked them a similar question about what it is, or something related to it, literally "it's not that [either]," but in this case the も might be referring back to the fact that she forgets things in general, も as in like, "there's another problem as well"
    – frei
    Jan 20, 2017 at 3:41

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