Today, we’re going to talk about わけだ (wake da). This is a common phrase that has several different uses. We’ve already had two lessons on this phrase, but in this lesson, we’ll talk about two of the most common ways to use it, わけではない (wake de wa nai) and わけがない (wake ga nai).
Using わけ with Negation
As you probably know, じゃない (ja nai) means “not” when it comes after a noun, verb, or adjective. But when you add it to わけ, it means “it’s not like…” or “it’s not always the case that…”. わけじゃない is often used with けど, が, ただ, or でも, which are all ways to say “but”.
X けど/が/ただ/でも…わけじゃない
X kedo/ga/tada/demo… wake ja nai.
It’s X, but it’s not like…
寿司が好きだけど、毎日食べたいわけじゃない。
Sushi ga suki dakedo, mainichi tabetai wake ja nai.
I like sushi, but it’s not like I’d want to eat it every day.
<verb simple/informal> + わけじゃない
It’s not that…
行くわけじゃない
<i-adjective> + わけじゃない
<na-adjective> + なわけじゃない
楽しいわけじゃない
人気なわけじゃない
<noun>だというわけじゃない
わけではない (wake de wa nai) is the formal version of わけじゃない (wake ja nai), and it is usually used in writing. You will also hear people use わけじゃありません (wake ja arimasen) or わけじゃないです (wake ja nai desu) when speaking.
Informal:
わけじゃない
wake ja nai
Formal (Writing):
わけではない
wake de wa nai
Formal (Speaking):
わけじゃありません / わけじゃないです
wake ja arimasen / wake ja nai desu
ピカチュウが好きだけど、ピカチュウと結婚したいわけじゃない。
Pikachuu ga suki dakedo, pikachuu to kekkon shitai wake janai.
I like Pikachu, but it’s not like I’d want to marry Pikachu.
日本が好きだけど日本人と結婚したいわけじゃない。
Nihon ga suki dakedo nihonjin to kekkon shitai wake ja nai.
I like Japan, but it’s not like I want to marry a Japanese person.
嫌いなわけじゃないけど、好きでもない。
Kirai na wake ja nai kedo, suki de mo nai.
It’s not that I hate it, but I don’t like it either.
料理をするけど、上手なわけじゃない。
Ryouri wo suru kedo, jouzu na wake ja nai.
I cook, but it’s not that I’m good at it.
謝ったけど、本当に悪いと思ってるわけじゃない。
Ayamatta kedo, hontou ni warui to omotteru wake ja nai.
Although I apologized, it’s not that I truly feel bad about it.
今財布に一万円がありますが、お金持ちだというわけではありません。
Ima saifu ni ichiman en ga arimasu ga, o-kane mochi da to iu wake de wa arimasen.
I have 10,000 yen in my wallet now, but it doesn’t mean I’m rich.
金持ち (kane mochi) = rich person
When you’re speaking informally, you can shorten だという to simply って (tte) or だって (datte).
お金持ちってわけじゃない。
O-kane mochitte wake ja nai.
It’s not that I’m rich.
頭がいいだけで大統領になれるわけではない。
Atama ga ii dake de daitouryou ni nareru wake de wa nai.
It’s not like you can become a president just because you’re smart.
かっこいいだけで俳優になれるわけじゃない。
Kakko ii dake de haiyuu ni nareru wake ja nai.
It’s not like you can become an actor just because you’re good-looking.
気持ちがわからないわけじゃない。
Kimochi ga wakaranai wake ja nai.
It’s not that I don’t understand how you feel.
彼女と別れたの？
Kanojo to wakareta no?
Did you break up with your girlfriend?
そういうわけじゃない。
Sou iu wake ja nai.
It’s not that.
Be careful not to confuse そういうわけ with そんなに (sonna ni), which you use when you want to say “it’s not very”.
そんなに高くないよ。
Sonna ni takakunai yo.
It’s not that expensive. (It’s not very expensive)
そんなに美味しくないよ。
Sonna ni oishikunai yo.
It’s not that delicious. (It’s not very delicious)
そんなに痛くない。
Sonna ni itaku nai.
It’s not that painful. (It’s not very painful)
Using わけがない (Wake ga nai) when there’s No Way
In addition to わけじゃない, you can use わけがない to say there is no way something is true.
俺の妹がこんなに可愛いわけがない。
Ore no imouto ga konna ni kawaii wake ga nai.
My little sister can’t be this cute.
締め切りは明後日です。
Shimekiri wa asatte desu.
The deadline is the day after tomorrow.
2日で出来るわけがないでしょ。
Futsuka de dekiru wake ga nai desho.
There is no way I can do that in two days, don’t you see that?
天才の田中先輩が間違えるわけがない。
Tensai no Tanaka-senpai ga machigaeru wake ga nai.
There is no way the genius Tanaka-senpai would make a mistake.
田中先輩も人間だよ。いつも正しいわけがない。
Tanaka-senpai mo ningen da yo. Itsumo tadashii wake ga nai.
Tanaka-senpai is a human being, too. It’s impossible to always be right.
You can add でしょ (desho) or だろ (daro) when you speak informally. Both words are similar to “right?” and are used when you say something that the listener should already know.
昨日どこにいたの？
Kinou doko ni ita no?
Where were you yesterday?
心配してるの？俺が浮気するわけがないだろ。
Shinpai shiteru no? Ore ga uwaki suru wake ga nai daro.
Are you worried? There is no way I would cheat on you.
朝ごはんにパン食べるわけないでしょ！
Asagohan ni pan taberu wake nai desho!
There is no way I would eat bread for breakfast!
わけ vs. はず
In another lesson, we learned about はず(hazu), which is used when you expect something to happen a certain way (You can watch that lesson here). Similarly to わけ, you can use はずがない when don’t expect something to happen.
田中先輩が間違えるはずがない。
Tanaka-senpai ga machigaeru hazu ga nai.
It’s impossible that Tanaka-senpai would make a mistake. (I expect it is impossible)
When you use はずがない, you say something based on your own beliefs, so it sounds subjective. When you use わけがない, you can still be subjective, but it has a more objective connotation.
田中先輩が間違えるわけがない。
Tanaka-senpai ga machigaeru wake ga nai.
There is no way that Tanaka-senpai would make a mistake.
宇宙人がいるわけがない。
Uchuujin ga iru wake ga nai.
There is no way that aliens exist.
In the example above, you are absolutely sure that aliens don’t exist, and you have evidence that they don’t exist.
宇宙人がいるはずがない。
Uchuujin ga iru hazu ga nai.
Aliens shouldn’t exist.
This example is based on your beliefs and expectations.
Let’s sum up what we learned today.
- Use わけじゃないわけではない to say “it’s not like…”
- Use わけがない to say “there’s no way that…”
- わけがない is usually used objectively, while はずがない is used when you say something based on your own beliefs.
That concludes our third and final lesson on わけ. It might be hard to remember all the ways to use わけ, but just keep practicing and memorize them a little bit at a time. Gradually, you’ll sound more like a native Japanese speaker. Thanks for reading until the end!
