Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 2: 8/12

う-Verb (Negative)Will/Does/Do (not)

Structure

Examples:
座(すわ)る + らない
歌(うた)う + わない
歩(ある)く + かない
話(はな)す + さない
打(う)つ + たない
死(し)ぬ + なない
飛(と)ぶ + ばない
休(やす)む + まない
泳(およ)ぐ + がない

Exceptions:
ある ￫ ない

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Verb

  • Word Type

    Auxiliary Verb

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    Standard

About う-Verb (Negative)

The negative form of う-Verbs are conjugated based on the same set of rules used for other forms of う-Verb conjugation (changing the last kana, followed by the addition of something else). In the case of negation, the additional component will be ない (casual), or ません (polite).

As can be seen here, the kana change differs depending on whether ない or ません is being used. If ない will be used, the last kana will always change from the kana ending with a う sound, to the kana ending with an あ sound within the same row. If ません will be used, the change will be from the う sound kana to the い sound kana. The only exception to this rule are verbs that end in the kana う. Instead of changing to あ (the あ sound kana in the same row), う will become わ, when used with ない.

While the common translation of ない and ません is simply 'not', they actually have several possible nuances. These nuances are 'don't' (usually not), 'won't' (intentionally not), or 'can't' (unintentionally not).

Both ない and ません are auxiliary verbs (ません is a conjugation of ます), meaning that they have their own set of conjugation rules.

Caution

The ない attached to make the negative form of adjectives is a different word, and therefore follows different conjugation rules. The ない attached to adjectives is an い-Adjective itself, and not an auxiliary verb.

Related

Misc.

Examples

--:--

    お金(かね)はない。
    お金(かね)はないです。
    お金(かね)はありません。

    I don't have money.

    車(くるま)は持(も)たない。
    車(くるま)は持(も)たないです。
    車(くるま)は持(も)ちません。

    I won't have a car.

    木(き)は歩(ある)かない。
    木(き)は歩(ある)かないです。
    木(き)は歩(ある)きません。

    Trees do not walk.

    トミーは話(はな)さない。
    トミーは話(はな)さないです。
    トミーは話(はな)しません。

    Tommy does not talk.

    ボールを打(う)たない。
    ボールを打(う)たないです。
    ボールを打(う)ちません。

    to not hit a ball

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う-Verb (Negative) – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (10 in total)

  • Asher

    Asher

    Changing this now so that they are the same. Just to be clear though, whether something is ない or ません itself will not change the nuance apart from the politeness. The nuance itself will need to be understood from other context (if there is any).

  • JonEPizza

    JonEPizza

    Why do I get this lesson after already being quizzed on the negative forms and not before?

    Like, I did actually piece the rules of the negative article together from getting the questions wrong, and then hitting see answer, but why necessitate a negative feedback on this material by not even showing it to me first?

  • JamesBunpro

    JamesBunpro

    Hello and welcome to the forums!

    If you learnt this through the regular ‘Learn’ queue then this shouldn’t have happened. I am trying to think of ways the scenario you are describing may have happened. Did you perhaps add this grammar point directly to your review queue instead of first seeing it through ‘Learn’? Or perhaps you mean you were quizzed on the negative form in other questions? If so, are you using the default Bunpro order or perhaps a textbook order like Genki?

    If you can give some more details as to what happened and how you’re using Bunpro I can hopefully tell you what went wrong (or if this is a bug!). Cheers!

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