ない ~ はない - Grammar Discussion

There is not ~ that is not/does not

Structure

  • いAdj[ くない ] + Verb[ ない ]
  • なAdj[ じゃない ] + Verb[ ない ]
  • Verb[ ない ] + Noun + ない

View on Bunpro

私の家族の中で海外に行った ことのない 人はいない。
There is not a single person in my family who has not traveled abroad.

Why is の used here instead of が? Is this a different from [たことがある]?

@deltacat3 Hey! 行ったことない is a relative clause and means the same thing as 行ったことない. The clause modifies 人, so it means “the person who has never gone.” Here are some more examples of が being switched out for の. I hope this helps! Cheers.

1 Like

ゆめを見 ない 人 がいない だろうか。

Why is using here instead of also correct?

Grammar info seems to imply that it is not:
Verb[ ない ] + Noun + ない

1 Like

@Scyamntic
Hey and sorry for the late answer :bowing_man:

This comes to the difference between が and は, to make it simple:
A) ゆめを見ない人 が いないだろうか。=
In this room, ゆめを見ない人 が いないだろうか。
In this building, ゆめを見ない人 が いないだろうか。
In this city ゆめを見ない人 が いないだろうか。
ゆめを見ない人 are THE “specific” people (and therefore limited)

vs

B) ゆめを見ない人 は いないだろうか。=
Statement in “general”, ゆめを見ない人 は いないだろうか。

This is why は generally fits better in this type of sentences, especially if there is no specific context.

I hope it makes it a bit more clear,
Cheers!

2 Likes

That clears it up wonderfully as well as confirm a suspicion that I have had for a while that が has a specificity about it while は deals more the “thing as such”. Very illuminating thank you!

3 Likes

Regarding this example:

Maybe I’m not familiar enough with 絶対(ぜったい), but I don’t understand why the answer is ない instead of じゃない.

2 Likes

@GregX999
Hey :blush:

Think of 絶対 in this sentence and context as a contraction of 絶対に, an adverb (adverbs can modify/describe adjectives, verbs, and other adverbs) meaning “absolutely”, not a noun. じゃない can only follow nouns and なadjectives so ない is used instead. By the way 絶対(に)ない is a commonly used expression that means: absolutely not/definitely not/no way and so on.

I hope it helps,
Cheers!

If something is not clear, feel free to ask :slight_smile:

2 Likes

Hi there, in this example

子供:好きじゃないクラスメイトはいないけど、まだ、できないよ。

Does the て in できてないよ add a different nuance to what the kid’s saying?

1 Like

The て is the reason why the translation says “I haven’t made any friends yet”. (できてない is the ている-form but with the い dropped.)

Without the て, it just means “I can’t make friends”.

1 Like

why the answer in this sentence is only ない?

あそこのカフェで美味おいしくないコーヒー 絶対ぜったいない

shouldn’t it be はない?

Because the は already occurs earlier in the sentence, and it’s tied to コーヒー. In this sentence, 絶対 (absolutely, no way) is an adverb describing ない. You could make the same sentence without 絶対 and it’d be the same meaning but a little softer.
あそこのカフェで美味しくないコーヒーはない
At that cafe, there’s no coffee that is not delicious.

1 Like

but in this case

ボスのいえにはテレビをいていない 部屋へやはない

there was a は before. Shouldnt it be only ない too?

You can have more than one は. Each one goes with a different topic.
The ideas are grouped together like this:
ボスの家には【(テレビを置いていない部屋)はない】
Within the topic of: ボスの家に…
There is none of: ない…
The topic of: テレビを置いていない部屋.

2 Likes