とは限らない とはかぎらない -

English translation:
not necessarily so
is not always true
there is no guarantee that

Structure:
Verb + とは限らない
いAdj + とは限らない
なAdj + だ + とは限らない
Noun + だ + とは限らない

Explanation:
[Often used with からといって and conjunctions that express concession like ても]

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Is とは short form for というのは or what is the function of と here?

It is “that” plus は, the contrast marker. You can also encounter とも限らない sometimes.

With “that” you mean the sentence part before と? So it’s used as quoting particle here?

Is this ‘とは’ at the beginning the same ‘とは’ as とは - Grammar Discussion? (Namely, https://bunpro.jp/grammar_points/742)

Or is one ‘とは’ a single particle, while the other ‘とは’ is ‘と’ followed by ‘は’? (Or are they both ‘と’ + ‘は’, but just used differently?)

I am also struggling to understand the logic behind this とは here and specifically why this point has not the same meaning as に限らない. To be more specific, 限らない meaning “no limited to” is easy to understand but I would like to grasp finely the respective meaning of に and とは since the two meanings of と i know (quotation and “with”) do no make sense here for me. Is the difference similar to にする and とする where the former seems to refer to something real/decided while the later points at something hypothetical/not yet achieved?

I have been having a huge issue getting this one right, does anyone have any advice or different ways to remember when to use this?

Can anyone expand on when this would be used versus という訳ではない？ Thank you!

Hey @dokidokiwakuwaku!

とは限らない is translated as ‘not always’, but the nuance it carries is, ‘this is how it is most of the time, but sometimes there are exceptions’. However, と言う訳ではない, is used how ‘it doesn’t mean that…’ is used in English and is used to negate a popular belief or an assumption the listener might make.

犬だからと言って、猫が嫌いとは限らない。‘Just because it is a dog doesn’t mean that they dislikes cats. (Just because it is a dog, although most dogs dislike cats, there are exceptions where they like cats.)’

犬だから猫が嫌いという訳ではない。‘It is not the case that this dog dislikes cats because it is a dog. (This dog dislikes cats, but it is not necessarily because it is a dog, but because of a traumatic experience)’

I hope that helps!

Very helpful, thank you!