〜じゃない／ではない

Meaning

じゃない and the more formal-looking ではない are plain negative copulas after a noun or na-adjective.

Formation

1. Noun or na-adjective stem + じゃない.
2. The full ではない form is more common in writing or deliberately neutral speech.

When to use it

Informal negative

Tells a close listener that the topic is not the named person, object, or state.

Confirmation question

With question intonation, じゃない？ can mean 'isn't it?' or ask for agreement.

Important notes

• じゃ is a spoken contraction of では; the negative meaning is the same in both forms.

Common mistakes

• Do not attach じゃない directly to a verb or i-adjective: 食べない and 高くない are formed differently.
• Choose ではありません or じゃありません in a formal situation.

Similar grammar

• 〜ではありません／じゃありません〜ではありません／じゃありません is the polite negative.
• 〜だ〜だ is the corresponding positive statement.
• 〜ではありませんでした／じゃなかった〜じゃなかった is the plain past negative.