Qualifying a position in Japanese: 必ずしも…ない and …わけではありません

Level B2

Qualifying a position in Japanese: 必ずしも…ない and …わけではありません

By the end of this lesson you can stop a statement from claiming too much in a discussion about something familiar. The central idea is this: 必ずしも (kanarazushimo) … ない says that a general claim doesn't hold in every case, and わけではありません (wake de wa arimasen) rejects a conclusion someone could draw from what was said. Neither one denies everything, and when you simply know a fact, you still say it directly.

Warm-up: negatives, opinions, two sides

These pieces come back in this lesson, even if this is the first time you see them. 明日は行かない (ashita wa ikanai), “I'm not going tomorrow”, shows a plain negative: 行かない (ikanai), from 行く (iku, to go).

Polite negatives depend on the word. Words like きれい (kirei, clean) and 静か (shizuka, quiet) take ではありません: きれいではありません (kirei de wa arimasen), “it's not clean”. Words like うるさい (urusai, noisy) take くありません: カフェはうるさくありません (kafe wa urusaku arimasen), “cafés aren't noisy”. You may know 大きくないです (ōkiku nai desu), “it's not big”. くありません means the same as くないです and sounds more formal, so it suits a discussion.

カフェは便利だと思います (kafe wa benri da to omoimasu), “I think cafés are convenient”, gives an opinion with と思います. Keep an eye on the だ (da) after 便利 (benri): it comes up again. The last example sets two sides against each other with 一方で (ippō de), “on the other hand”, and both stay true. This lesson does something else: it limits one claim.

Two ways to limit, three words that claim a lot

必ずしも (kanarazushimo) means “not necessarily”, and what it limits needs a negative ending. わけではない (wake de wa nai) means “it's not that…”. The list shows its plain form; the sentences here use the polite わけではありません (wake de wa arimasen). The other three words often make a claim too broad: いつも (itsumo, always), 毎日 (mainichi, every day) and 全部 (zenbu, all).

Model: where shall we study tomorrow?

Listen once without reading. Two people plan where to study. 勉強しませんか (benkyō shimasen ka) invites: “shall we study?”. カフェのほうがいい (kafe no hō ga ii) brings back comparison: “a café is better”. A's claim about cafés is broad. B limits it with 必ずしも, then gives the case behind that limit: 朝は静かなカフェもあります (asa wa shizuka na kafe mo arimasu), “some cafés are quiet in the morning”, where 朝 (asa) is “morning”. Then A jumps to a conclusion: じゃあ (jā) means “so” or “then”, and だめ (dame) means “no good”. B rejects that conclusion with わけではありません; 悪い (warui) is “bad” and よく (yoku) is “often”. The last two lines are direct on purpose: 〜ましょう (mashō) is “let's”, and once they've decided, nobody needs to qualify anything.

Against a general claim: 必ずしも…ない

Use 必ずしも against a claim that's too general, like “cafés are noisy” or “expensive coffee is good”. It says the claim doesn't hold in every case: some cafés are noisy and some aren't.

What 必ずしも limits must end in a negative, ない in the plain form or ありません in the polite one, so カフェは必ずしもうるさいです is wrong. Words like うるさい and おいしい (oishii, tasty) take くありません: うるさくありません, おいしくありません. Words like 静か and nouns take ではありません: 静かではありません, いい店ではありません (ii mise de wa arimasen), “it isn't a good shop”. 高い (takai) is “expensive”, コーヒー (kōhī) is “coffee” and 店 (mise) is “shop”.

In English, “not” sits right beside “necessarily”. In Japanese, the negative waits at the end of the sentence, so listen all the way through. 必ず (kanarazu) on its own means “without fail”: it isn't a short form of 必ずしも.

カフェは／図書館は必(かなら)ずしもうるさくありません／静かではありません

Against a conclusion: …わけではありません

わけではありません rejects an idea that could follow from what was said, as B does in the model: preferring cafés doesn't mean the library is bad. English “it's not that…” comes first. Japanese states the whole idea and rejects it at the end.

The plain form goes before わけ. Words like 悪い and うるさい stay as they are. Verbs do too: 行く (iku), and in the past 読んだ (yonda), “read”, from 読む (yomu). Words like 静か take な (na): 静かなわけではありません. That's the trap, because before と思います they take だ: 静かだと思います, but 静かなわけではありません. So 静かだわけではありません is wrong.

In these examples が (ga) marks the subject, inside the idea being rejected. The idea often contains a word that claims a lot, such as いつも, 毎日 or 全部. 図書館 (toshokan) is “library”, に (ni) marks where you go, and 本 (hon) is “book”.

悪い／静かな／行く／読んだわけではありません

Limiting what you've just said

A statement can suggest more than you mean. If you say you like coffee, someone may assume you drink it all the time. So make the statement, start a new sentence with でも (demo, but) and limit it with わけではありません. The first sentence stays true: you do like coffee. The second only cuts off the conclusion that goes too far.

好きです (suki desu) is “I like it”, 飲む (nomu) is “to drink”, いい (ii) is “good” and この本 (kono hon) is “this book”.

A flat negative or a limit?

Compare each pair. カフェはうるさくありません says cafés aren't noisy, full stop. カフェは必ずしもうるさくありません leaves room: some are, some aren't. 図書館に行きません (toshokan ni ikimasen) says you don't go. 毎日図書館に行くわけではありません says you do go, just not every day.

The two tools often overlap, but they aim at different things: 必ずしも at a general claim, わけではありません at a conclusion, which can also be about you. They can combine, as they often do with a verb: 学生は必ずしも毎日勉強するわけではありません (gakusei wa kanarazushimo mainichi benkyō suru wake de wa arimasen). 学生 (gakusei) is “student”.

When a direct answer is better

These tools are for claims that go too far, not for every answer. If someone asks whether you're going to the library today and you aren't, say いいえ、行きません (iie, ikimasen). A わけではありません there would leave the other person wondering what you really mean.

A limit doesn't replace your position, either. After limiting a claim, say what you think, as the last example does: the limit, then でも and your opinion. If every sentence is a limit, people can't tell where you stand.

Your turn, and the summary

Cover the second, fourth and sixth lines. Listen to each question or claim and answer aloud before you check. Limit the first with 必ずしも. Answer the second with わけではありません: the question contains 毎日, a word that claims a lot, and you do go, just not every day. The third is a simple question, so answer it directly. Your own answers are welcome.

In short: 必ずしも…ない limits a general claim and ends in a negative; …わけではありません rejects a conclusion, with the plain form before わけ and な after words like 静か; the two can combine; and a simple fact gets a direct answer.

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