Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 6: 5/13

じゃない

Is not, Isn't

Cannot be used with, い-Adjectives

Structure

［な］Adjective + では(1) + ない
Noun + では(1) + ない

(1)じゃ

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Verb

  • Word Type

    Auxiliary Verb

  • Register

    Standard

  • 品詞

    動詞

  • 単語の種類

    助動詞

  • 使用域

    一般

About じゃない

じゃない is the casual form of ではない. では is regularly contracted to じゃ in Japanese, so is worth remembering as its own structure. じゃない (casual), or ではない (semi-polite) are the structures used for creating the negative form of nouns and な-Adjectives.

These structures are simply added to the base form of the noun or な-Adjective.

じゃ and では can also be used with the negative ます form of ある, to create the polite variant.

ない is sometimes said/written as ね or ねえ. However, this is considered very casual, or even a bit rough. Accordingly, it is best avoided in most conversations.

Caution

じゃない is used very frequently to ask questions. This is similar to じゃないか, a grammar point covered in another lesson. However, the nuance difference is that じゃない as a question is a little bit more blunt, like 'isn't it?' in English. On the other hand, じゃないか is more like 'don't you think?'.

  • これは無理(むり)じゃない？
    This is impossible, isn't it? (More direct statement)
  • これは無理(むり)じゃないか？
    Don't you think this is impossible? (More direct question)

When じゃない is used as a question, it will usually be obvious, due to a rising tone.

Examples

  • 犬(いぬ)じゃない。

    It is not a dog.

  • 先生(せんせい)じゃない。

    I am not a teacher.

  • 牛肉(ぎゅうにく)じゃないです。

    It is not beef.

  • この絵(え)は、綺麗(きれい)じゃありません。

    This painting is not beautiful.

  • 好(す)きな スポーツは、サッカーではありません。

    The sport I like is not soccer.

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じゃない – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (9 in total)

  • gael

    gael

    Thanks for the reply and the correction.

    My interrogation remains though: why is ではありません refused as an answer?

  • nekoyama

    nekoyama

    It’s not refused. I tested it. I assumed you made the same typo you edited out of your earlier post.

    If the example sentence uses じゃ it will display that as the solution even when you answer では, but it will not refuse では.

  • gael

    gael

    Weird. I don’t think I made the typo, but let’s give that as the answer.

    I just had a restest now, and it was accepted, so your explanation is the simplest one.

    Thanks!

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