{"id":1251,"date":"2025-12-10T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/?p=1251"},"modified":"2025-11-28T01:11:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T01:11:25","slug":"how-to-use-%e3%81%98%e3%82%83%e3%81%82%e3%82%8a%e3%81%be%e3%81%9b%e3%82%93-to-say-is-not-in-japanese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/japanese\/how-to-use-%e3%81%98%e3%82%83%e3%81%82%e3%82%8a%e3%81%be%e3%81%9b%e3%82%93-to-say-is-not-in-japanese\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use \u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093 to Say \u201cIs Not\u201d in Japanese"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you\u2019ve just started learning Japanese, one of the very first grammar points you\u2019ll come across is how to say what something is<\/strong>. Equally important is learning how to say what something is not<\/strong>. That\u2019s where \u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093<\/strong> comes in.<\/p>\n\n

\n

What is \u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093?<\/h2>\n

\u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093<\/strong> is the polite way to say \u201cis not\u201d<\/em> in Japanese. It\u2019s the negative form of \u3067\u3059 (desu)<\/strong>, which means \u201cis\u201d or \u201cto be.\u201d You use it when you want to politely deny or negate a noun.<\/p>\n\n

Here\u2019s a simple example to help you understand:<\/p>\n\n 

\n\u3053\u308c\u306f\u30da\u30f3\u3067\u3059\u3002\nKore wa pen desu.\n\"This is a pen.\"\n\n\u3053\u308c\u306f\u30da\u30f3\u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093\u3002\nKore wa pen ja arimasen.\n\"This is not a pen.\"\n      <\/pre>\n    <\/section>\n\n    
\n      
Breaking It Down<\/h2>\n      
    \n        
  • \u3058\u3083<\/strong> is a contracted form of \u3067\u306f<\/strong>, which also helps form the negative. \u3058\u3083<\/strong> sounds more casual and is commonly used in everyday speech.<\/li>\n        
  • \u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093<\/strong> is the polite negative form derived from \u3042\u308b<\/strong> (\u201cto exist\u201d for inanimate things), but in this case it functions as the polite negative of \u3067\u3059<\/strong>.<\/li>\n      <\/ul>\n      
    Together:<\/strong>
    \n      \u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093 = \u201cis not\u201d (polite)<\/code><\/p>\n    <\/section>\n\n    
    \n      
    When Do You Use It?<\/h2>\n      
    Use \u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093<\/strong> when:<\/p>\n      
      \n        
    • You\u2019re speaking politely<\/li>\n        
    • You want to say that A is not B<\/li>\n      <\/ul>\n      
      Basic structure:<\/strong><\/p>\n      
      [Noun A] \u306f [Noun B] \u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093\u3002<\/pre>\n      
      Translation:<\/strong> [A] is not [B]<\/p>\n    <\/section>\n\n    
      \n      
      Examples<\/h2>\n      
        \n        
      • \u5f7c\u306f\u5148\u751f\u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093\u3002
        Kare wa sensei ja arimasen.<\/em>
        He is not a teacher.<\/li>\n        
      • \u3042\u308c\u306f\u72ac\u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093\u3002
        Are wa inu ja arimasen.<\/em>
        That is not a dog.<\/li>\n        
      • \u305d\u308c\u306f\u65e5\u672c\u8a9e\u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093\u3002
        Sore wa Nihongo ja arimasen.<\/em>
        That is not Japanese.<\/li>\n      <\/ul>\n    <\/section>\n\n    
        \n      
        \u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093 vs \u3067\u306f\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093 vs \u3058\u3083\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3059<\/h2>\n      
        These all mean \u201cis not,\u201d but the difference lies in tone and formality.<\/p>\n      
          \n        
        • \u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093<\/strong>: polite and natural<\/li>\n        
        • \u3067\u306f\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093<\/strong>: more formal and textbook-style<\/li>\n        
        • \u3058\u3083\u306a\u3044\u3067\u3059<\/strong>: casual polite, common in everyday conversation<\/li>\n      <\/ul>\n      
          As a beginner, \u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093<\/strong> is a safe and polite choice that works well in most situations.<\/p>\n    <\/section>\n\n    
          \n      
          What You Can\u2019t Use It With<\/h2>\n      
          \u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093<\/strong> is used to negate nouns.<\/p>\n      
          However, it cannot<\/strong> be used to negate verbs or adjectives.<\/p>\n      
          For example:<\/p>\n      
          \n\u00d7 \u98df\u3079\u308b\u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093\u3002 \u2190 Incorrect\n\u3007 \u98df\u3079\u307e\u305b\u3093\u3002 \u2190 Correct\n      <\/pre>\n      
          Use \u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093<\/strong> only when talking about what something is not<\/strong> \u2014 not what someone does<\/strong> or doesn\u2019t do<\/strong>.<\/p>\n    <\/section>\n\n    
          \n      
          Quick Practice<\/h2>\n      
            \n        
          • \u3053\u308c\u306f\u30b3\u30fc\u30d2\u30fc\u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093\u3002
            This is not coffee.<\/li>\n        
          • \u5f7c\u5973\u306f\u5b66\u751f\u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093\u3002
            She is not a student.<\/li>\n        
          • \u305d\u308c\u306f\u732b\u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093\u3002
            That is not a cat.<\/li>\n      <\/ul>\n    <\/section>\n\n    
            \n      
            Concluding Thoughts<\/h2>\n      
            Learning to negate with \u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093<\/strong> is a key step toward building full Japanese sentences. It\u2019s polite, widely used, and easy to apply.<\/p>\n      
            The earlier you get used to this pattern, the more confidently you\u2019ll be able to express yourself in Japanese.<\/p>\n      
            Got it down? Great \u2014 now you can say what something is not<\/strong>, and that\u2019s an essential part of communication.<\/p>\n    <\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
            If you\u2019ve just started learning Japanese, one of the very first grammar points you\u2019ll come across is how to say what something is. Equally important is learning how to say what something is not. That\u2019s where \u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093 comes in. What is \u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093? \u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093 is the polite way to say \u201cis not\u201d in Japanese. It\u2019s the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1252,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-japanese"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1251"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1253,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1251\/revisions\/1253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}