Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 6: 6/13

じゃなかった

Was not, Wasn't

Structure Legend

Structure

[な]Adjective + では(1) + なかった
Noun + では(1) + なかった

(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 じゃなかった

じゃなかった is the casual form of ではなかった. では itself is regularly contracted to じゃ in Japanese, so is worth remembering as its own structure. じゃなかった (casual), or ではなかった (semi-polite) are the structures used for creating the negative-past form of nouns and な-Adjectives. These structures are simply added to the base form of the noun or な-Adjective.
  • あそこ病院(びょういん)じゃなかった
    That place over there wasn't a hospital.
  • この(くるま)便利(べんり)じゃなかった
    This car wasn't useful.
じゃ and では may also be used with the negative-past ます form of ある, to create the polite variant.
  • あれ(ねこ)ではありませんでした
    That over there was not a cat.
  • あの(ひと)綺麗(きれい)ではありませんでした
    That person was not pretty.

Examples

  • りんごじゃなかった

    It was not an apple.

  • 先生(せんせい)じゃなかった

    They were not a teacher.

  • (ばん)ごはん()ではなかった

    Dinner was not liked by me.

  • (あさ)ごはん(つく)ったのは(とう)さんじゃありませんでした

    The person who made breakfast was not (your) father.

  • その動物(どうぶつ)(うし)じゃなかった

    That animal was not a cow.

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じゃなかった – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (12 in total)

  • lorenzosama

    lorenzosama

    About 3 years ago

    Hi! I’m confused on when to use this " じゃありませんでした" and when to use ”じゃない". In the sentence below why is " じゃありませんでした" the correct usage? Thank you in advance

    朝あさごはんを作つくったのは、お父とうさん じゃありませんでした

  • Pushindawood

    Pushindawood

    About 3 years ago

    @lorenzosama Hey! It really comes down to what level of politeness you want to use/wish to express. This particular review question actually accepts all of the following answers:

    じゃなかった
    ではなかった
    じゃなかったです
    ではなかったです
    じゃありませんでした
    ではありませんでした

    When it comes to choosing the best answer, it would be best to refer to the post made by @mrnoone above. Let us know if you have any further questions. Cheers!

  • Peter_Wilson

    Peter_Wilson

    About 3 years ago

    The accepted answer for the following question is shown
    風邪を [ひくつもりはなかった]

    Why is じゃなかった not accepted for the past tense as じゃない is shown in the grammar notes for the present tense?

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