文法の説明

N2 レッスン 1: 23/23

まいWon't, Intend not to, Probably not

する→しまい/するまい/すまい・くる→きまい/くるまい/こまい

使い方・接続

Verb + まい
Verb［stem］+ まい

詳細

  • 使用域

    硬い

「まい」の情報

The auxiliary verb まい is used in Japanese to express negative volition. This means that in many ways, it is the opposite of う and よう, which are the auxiliary verbs that express positive volition. まい connects to the base form of verbs, and is considered slightly formal.

まい may be translated as 'won't (A)', 'to intend not to (A)', or 'probably not (A)'. It can be considered as a condensed way of expressing ～ないだろう.

Caution

When appearing with する or 来(く)る, it is also common to see まい connected to the conjunctive form as しまい, すまい, きまい and こまい. However, the standard するまい and 来(く)るまい are also quite common structures.

例文

--:--

    あの店(みせ)は行列(ぎょうれつ)がすごすぎる。もう行(い)くまい。

    The line at that shop is too crazy. I probably won't go again.

    税金(ぜいきん)が高(たか)いから、この町(まち)には住(す)むまい。

    I don't intend to live in this town because the taxes are high.

    私(わたし)のせいでものすごい苦情(くじょう)だ。もう失敗(しっぱい)するまい。

    I caused the terrible grievances. I intend not to fail again.

    あの人(ひと)の話(はなし)は下品(げひん)だ。二度(にど)と聞(き)くまい。

    That person's stories are vulgar. I probably won't listen to them a second time.

    昨日(きのう)飲(の)みすぎてしまったので、二度(にど)と酒(さけ)は飲(の)むまい。

    Because I drank too much last night, I don't intend to drink ever again.

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「まい」に関する文法ディスカッション

最近の返信 (合計10件)

  • Pushindawood

    Pushindawood

    won’t
    intend not to
    probably not

    Structure

    • Verb + まい
    • Verb[stem] + まい

    する→しまい/するまい/すまい・くる→きまい/くるまい/こまい

    Negative volitional form. It is used to express having no intention to do something or conjecture/guess, that something won’t happen based on some reasoning.[negative volition・conjecture]

    View on Bunpro

  • flowsnake

    flowsnake

    Is it true that Verb[stem] + まい can only work with ichidan verbs and not godan? (leaving aside irregular verbs)

  • gyroninja

    gyroninja

    You are backwards.

    Verb[る] + まい is used for godan verbs
    Verb[ない] + まい is used for ichidan verbs

    For more information see the linked reading to imabi

    Edit: Bunpro calls 終止形 Verb[る]

  • flowsnake

    flowsnake

    I checked your link. It confirms what I said.

    image907×183 2.99 KB
  • gyroninja

    gyroninja

    You may be getting confused because both Verb[stem] and Verb[nai] of 食べる is 食べ.

  • flowsnake

    flowsnake

    Oh I see what you mean. But then why not just say the stem? Historical reasons?

    By the way, the “終止形 of 五段動詞” is the important part to me. You wouldn’t ever have 言いまい, right?

  • gyroninja

    gyroninja

    Oops, you are right. It’s 終止形 not Verb[stem] I got mixed up on the English side of things.

  • dokidokiwakuwaku

    dokidokiwakuwaku

    Can someone explain how this point differs from はずがない？ Thank you!

  • Fuga

    Fuga

    Hey there! This one could be hard because they have a very similar translation. The biggest difference between the two is the nuance. They both are used for assumptions, but まい has a stronger nuance of ‘probably not…’. まい is often used when the speaker is not so certain or confident about something. In contrast to this, はずがない is used when the speaker is more confident about their assumption.

    For example:
    もう失敗するまい。‘I intend not to fail again.’ The nuance this has is ‘I don’t intend to fail again, but I might fail.’ (Very little confidence)

    もう失敗するはずがない。‘It is very unlikely that I will fail again.’ When はずがない is used, it shows that the speaker is very confident that they would not fail again, but at the same time, not dismissing the fact that they might fail.

    I hope that this explanation helps you understand the difference!

  • dokidokiwakuwaku

    dokidokiwakuwaku

    Very helpful, thank you!

  • dokidokiwakuwaku

    dokidokiwakuwaku

    Sorry, one more question–how would this point differ from つもりはない？

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