Structure
［い］Adjective［く］+ は
［い］Adjective［く］+ は + ない
［い］Adjective［く］+ は + ある
Details
Standard
About くは
Besides marking the topic of a sentence in a straightforward way, the は particle can also be used to indicate contrast or comparison. One way it does this is with い-Adjectives, in the pattern ～くは.
Grammatically, this is the continuative form of an い-Adjective (く), plus the binding particle は.
～くは is most often used with negatives, to emphasize that something isn't necessarily one thing, but there is an implication that it still may be another. This looks similar to the regular negative form of い-Adjectives but with は inserted after く.
As は is being used contrastively here, often the contrast will be explicitly stated, although this isn't always the case.
Although this pattern of inserting は for contrast is most common with negatives, it can also be seen in positive sentences.
Fun Fact
Although the focus of this grammar point is ～くは, this contrastive use of は can be seen in many different contexts.
Vocab Coverage
All Bunpro Vocab that appears on this item.
Examples
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この映画は面白くはない。
This movie isn't exactly interesting.
私の指は細くはないです。
My fingers aren't exactly thin.
あそこのコーヒーは美味しくはない。
The coffee over there isn't exactly delicious.
先輩：「明日忙しい？」後輩：「明日は忙しくはないですけど……。」
Senior: 'Are you busy tomorrow?' Junior: 'I'm not exactly busy tomorrow, but...'
僕の彼女は可愛くはないけど、性格がいいんです。
My girlfriend isn't exactly cute, but she has a good personality.
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くは – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (4 in total)
The111
For those who are lost, cafelatte is responding to a comment I put in a different thread which is now closed. The Q was:
JamesBunpro
As we have this placed at N4 it is simplified a little, aiming to just get the main idea across and focus on the most intuitive/common use of the pattern.
We do keep an eye on feedback like this though, so will keep it in mind when we come round to doing quality checks and edits. For the moment we will leave it as is so that it has a little more time to breathe and receive feedback. I think the point you’ve raised is worth considering ...
The111
Thanks for the detailed response, James! From a learner’s perspective:
It makes sense to limit the use of a pattern when it is first introduced. I think this was done effectively with other patterns in the past, i.e. where a later lesson introduced a more broad way to use the pattern (I can’t think of any specific examples, except for maybe ように since it seems like there are a dozen lessons for that one which really all boil down to the same core sema...