じゃない and じゃん: Right?, Wow, What are you talking about?┃The の particle

Today, we’re going to learn how to use じゃない(janai) and じゃん(jan). This article goes over the topics covered in this video. I recommend you watch the video first and read this whenever you want to review.

 

Using じゃない and じゃん

As you may already know, じゃない means “not” when you use it after a noun or an adjective that requires a な(na) or の(no).

X は Y じゃない。
X wa Y janai.
X is not Y.

今日きょうは休やすみじゃない。
Kyou wa yasumi janai.
Today is not a day off.

日本語にほんごが上手じょうずじゃない。
Nihongo ga jouzu janai.
I’m not good at Japanese. (My Japanese is not good.)

猫ねこが好すきじゃない。
Neko ga suki janai.
I don’t like cats.

However, the meaning of じゃない can change when you change the intonation.

For example, when you raise the intonation at the end as if you’re asking a question, it doesn’t negate the word before it, but you make a statement that you expect the listner to agree with. It’s similar to “Isn’t it?” or “Right?” in English.

猫ねこが好すきじゃない？
Neko ga suki jaNAI?
Don’t you like cats?/Doesn’t he/she like cats?

Or, in this sentence, you can raise the intonation of 好き(suki) when you disagree with the listener, so it becomes an exclamation, similar to “What are you talking about?”

猫ねこが好すきじゃない！
Neko ga SUKI janai!
But you LIKE cats! (What are you talking about?)

Yet another way to use じゃない is to shorten it to じゃん.

猫ねこが好すきじゃん。
Neko ga suki jan.
(What are you talking about?) You DO like cats!

Suppose you eat lunch with your friend, and ten minutes later, he says:

お腹なか空すいた。
O-naka suita.
I’m hungry.

And you reply:

え？さっき食たべたばっかじゃん。
E? Sakki tabeta bakka jan.
Huh? (What are you talking about!) You just ate!

It’s hard to explain intonations in writing, so if you don’t remember the intonations, you should go back to the video lesson.

 

Using じゃない for Negation

Before we go on, let’s review じゃない as a negation particle. When you put じゃない after a noun or adjective, it means “not”.

<noun>/<na-adjective>じゃない
to be not <noun>/<na-adjective>

<noun>/<na-adjective>じゃないです
to not be<noun>/<na-adjective> (semi-formal)

<noun>/<na-adjective>じゃありません
to not be <noun>/<na-adjective> (formal)

<noun>/<na-adjective>ではありません
to not be <noun>/<na-adjective> (used in official writing)

トムはアメリカ人じんじゃない。
Tomu wa Amerikajin janai.
Tom is not American.

この図書館としょかんは静しずかじゃない。
Kono toshokan wa shizuka janai.
This library is not quiet.

トイレはきれいじゃない。
Toire wa kirei janai.
The toilet is not clean.

When you want to negate an adjective that ends with い(i), you change the い to く(ku) and add ない(nai).

くない
-kunai

くないです
-kunai desu (semi-formal)

くありません
-ku arimasen (formal)

今日きょうは寒さむくない
Kyou wa samukunai
It’s not cold today.

寒さむい→寒さむくない
samui→samukunai
cold → not cold

Make sure you don’t just add じゃない to i-adjectives.

❌暑あついじゃない
Atsui janai

⭕️暑あつくない
Atsukunai
It’s not hot.

* There are some adjectives that require a な(na) at the end and also end with い, but for those adjectives, you don’t change the い to く, so be careful!

⭕️きれい→きれいじゃない
kirei→kirei janai
pretty→not pretty

Also, be careful with いい (ii, “good”), which is an irregular verb. It’s negation form is NOT いくない(ikunai), but よくない(yokunai).

いい
ii
good

❌いくない
ikunai

❌いいじゃない
ii janai

⭕️よくない
yokunai
not good

When you negate verbs, you don’t use じゃない. If the verb ends in いる(-iru) or える(-eru), you remove the る-ru and add ない.

食たべる→食たべない
taberu→tabenai
to eat→to not eat

If the verb doesn’t end in いる or える, you change the “u” at the end to “a”, and add ない.

飲のむ→飲のまない
nomu→nomanai
to drink→to not drink

Again, you don’t use じゃない to negate verbs, so be careful.

❌食たべるじゃない
Taberu janai

❌飲のむじゃない
Nomu janai

That was a quick review on negating words, but there are other ways to use ない and じゃない.

 

Using ない and じゃない When You Want the Listener to Agree with You

As I mentioned earlier, when you raise the intonation at the end, it becomes a question. You can do this when you want the listener to agree with you.

暑あつくない？
Atsukunai?
Isn’t it hot?/It’s hot, isn’t it?

It’s similar to using ね(ne) at the end of a sentence:

暑あついね？
Atsui ne?
It’s hot, isn’t it?

So what’s the difference between ない and ね?

When you use ね(ne), you assume that the listener agrees with you, but you can use ない when you’re not sure that the listener agrees with you.

For instance, if you’re inside a room with the air conditioner on too high, but your friend doesn’t seem to mind, you can say:

ちょっと寒さむくない？
Chotto samukunai?
Isn’t it a bit cold here?

So if you’re sure the listener will agree with you, then you can use ね. If you’re not sure, you can use ない.

暑あつくない
Atsukunai
It’s not hot

暑あつくない？
Atsukunai?
Isn’t it hot?/It’s hot, isn’t it?

かわいくない
Kawaikunai
It’s not cute

かわいくない？
Kawaikunai?
Isn’t it cute?

みさは英語えいごが上手じょうずじゃない。
Misa wa eigo ga jouzu janai.
Misa’s English is not good./Misa is not good at English.

みさは英語えいごが上手じょうずじゃない？
Misa wa eigo ga jouzu janai?
Misa’s English is good, isn’t it?/(Don’t you think) Misa’s English is good?

So now you see that if you raise the intonation at the end like you’re asking a question, you change the meaning of the sentence. However, you can raise the intonation in other ways, as well.

Here’s a normal sentence:

漢字かんじは簡単かんたんじゃない。
Kanji wa kantan janai.
Kanji is not easy.

Now, if you actually think kanji is easy and want your friend to agree, you can emphasize the 簡単(kantan).

漢字かんじは簡単かんたんじゃない？
Kanji wa KANTAN janai?
Isn’t kanji EASY?/(Don’t you think) Kanji is easy?

Or maybe you don’t know if kanji is easy or not, and you want to ask your friend. You can emphasize the ない in じゃない.

漢字かんじは簡単かんたんじゃない？
Kanji wa kantan jaNAI?
Kanji is NOT easy? (I didn’t know.)

It’s hard to convey sound through writing, so I recommend you watch the video lesson when you need to remember how the intonations.

If you don’t get the intonation exactly right, people can still understand what you’re saying from the context, so don’t worry about getting it perfect right away.

When you want to ask a question while speaking formally, you must put a か(ka) as wells as raise the intonation, so even if you don’t get the intonation right, the listener will understand what you’re trying to say.

これ、みさの傘かさじゃない。
Kore, Misa no kasa janai.

これはみささんの傘かさじゃありません。
Kore wa Misa-san no kasa ja arimasen. (formal)

This isn’t Misa’s umbrella.

これ、みさの傘かさじゃない？
Kore, Misa no kasa janai?

これはみささんの傘かさじゃありませんか。
Kore wa misa-san no kasa ja arimasen ka. (formal)

Isn’t this Misa’s umbrella?/Isn’t this your umbrella, Misa?

X は Y じゃない？/じゃありませんか？
X wa Y janai?/ja arimasenka?
Isn’t X Y?

If you want to sound rough, you can shorten じゃない to じゃね (ja ne). This is common, but it’s very informal, so you should use it only for casual conversations. It also sounds rough and masculine, so guys are more likely to use it than girls.

XはYじゃね？
X wa Y ja ne?
Isn’t X Y?

これ、みさの傘かさじゃね？
Kore, Misa no kasa ja ne?
Isn’t this Misa’s umbrella?/Isn’t this your umbrella, Misa?

Suppose you see a guy far away who looks like Tom Cruise.

あれ、トムクルーズじゃない？
Are, Tomu Kuruuzu janai?

あれ、トムクルーズじゃね？
Are, Tomu Kuruuzu ja ne?

Isn’t that Tom Cruise?

*Here, we use あれ(are) because we see Tom Cruise is far away. If Tom Cruise is actually with you, and you want to introduce him to someone, you can use これ(kore):

これはトムクルーズ。
Kore wa Tomu Kuruuzu.
This is Tom Cruise.

Or, if you see a picture of someone that looks like Tom Cruise, you can point at it and say:

これ、トムクルーズじゃない？
Kore, Tomu Kuruuzu janai?
Isn’t this Tom Cruise?

Earlier, I mentioned that in order to negate i-adjectives, you have to change the い at the end to く. However, when you use じゃない expecting the listener to agree with you, you don’t change the い at the end to く.

かわいくない
kawaikunai
It’s not cute.

かわいいじゃない？
Kawaii janai?
Isn’t it cute?/It’s cute, right? (I know you feel the same way.)

日本の夏は暑あついじゃない？
Nihon no natsu wa atsui janai?
日本の夏は暑あついじゃん？
Nihon no natsu wa atsui jan?
Summer is Japan is hot, you know, right?

じゃない sounds feminine, so if you don’t want to sound feminine, you can use じゃん instead.

日本にほんの夏なつは暑あついじゃん。だから、夏なつに日本にほんに帰かえりたくない。
Nihon no natsu wa atsui jan. Dakara, natsu ni nihon ni kaeritakunai.
Summer in Japan is hot, right? So I don’t wanna go back to Japan in the summer.

By now, you may be wondering what’s the difference between using くない and じゃない。

The difference is similar to くない and ね. When you useくない, you’re asking the listener if they agree with you. When you use じゃない, you know the person will agree with you.

暑あつくない？
Atsukunai?
Isn’t it hot? (I’m not sure if you feel the same way, but I hope you do.)

暑あついじゃない？
Atsui janai?
It’s hot, right? (I know you feel the same way.)

カネキ、かっこよくない？
Kaneki, kakko yokunai?
Isn’t Kaneki handsome? (I’m not sure you feel the same way, but I hope you do.)

カネキ、かっこいいじゃん？
Kaneki, kakko ii jan?
Kaneki’s handsome, right? (I know you feel the same way.)

It’s worth mentioning that じゃない is considered feminine, but these days, young women don’t use it much. It’s used mainly by women in their forties or older, or women in drama and anime.

 

Example Sentences

あそこにおいしいレストランがあったじゃん。
Asoko ni oishii resutoran ga atta jan.
There was a good restaurant there, remember? (I know you do.)

あそこにいいレストランがなかった？
Asoko ni ii resutoran ga nakatta?
Wasn’t there a good restaurant there?

あ〜、覚おぼえてる！/あったね！
A~, oboeteru!/atta ne!
Ah, I remember!/ Yeah, there was!

もう閉店へいてんしちゃったんだって。
Mou heiten shichattan datte.
I heard the restaurant closed down.

A common expression in Japanese is 言ったじゃん:

〜って言いったじゃん？/〜って言ったじゃない？
〜tte itta jan?
I said〜, remember? (I know you do.)

先週せんしゅうトムクルーズ見みたって言いったじゃん？
Senshuu Tomu Kuruuzu mitatte itta jan?
I said I saw Tom Cruise last week, remember?

あれ、トムクルーズじゃなかった。
Are, Tomu Kuruuzu janakatta.
That wasn’t Tom Cruise.

新あたらしいスマホ買かうって言いったじゃん？
Atarashii sumaho kautte itta jan?
Remember I said I’ll buy a new smartphone?

やっぱり待まつことにした。
Yappari matsu koto ni shita.
I decided to wait, after all.

Going back to intonations, if you change the intonation of 言ったじゃん so it sounds like a statement instead of a question, it can mean “I told you so”. When you use it like this, it sounds slightly harsh.

For example, suppose your mother keeps asking you about your ex-boyfriend. In this case, you can say to her.

別わかれたって言いったじゃん。
Wakaretatte itta jan.
I told you we broke up. (Why don’t you remember?)

 

Using じゃん as an Exclamation

There is one more way to use じゃない and じゃん. It’s similar to the previous one, where you say something that the listener agrees with, but this time, you can use it when you disagree with the listener. It’s an exclamation similar to “What are you talking about?” in English.

Suppose your little sister likes Hello Kitty, but she doesn’t want to admit it, so she says:

キティちゃん好すきじゃない。
Kiti-chan suki janai.
I don’t like Hello Kitty.

Then you can say:

キティちゃん好すきじゃん/じゃない！
Kiti-chan suki jan/janai!
(What are you talking about?) You do like Hello Kitty!

Or maybe you give a game to your child as a present, but they don’t want it, and they say:

こんなゲーム要いらない！
Konna geemu iranai!
I don’t want a game like this!

Trying to change his mind, you play the game yourself and say:

えー、このゲーム面白おもしろいじゃん！
Ee, kono geemu omoshiroi jan!
(What are you talking about?) This game is fun!

As another example, your friend says he’s sleepy even though he spent the whole day sleeping. You can say to him:

一日中いちにちじゅう寝ねてたじゃん！
Ichi nichi juu neteta jan!
(What are you talking about?) You were sleeping all day!

Earlier, I used an example sentence similar to this one:

え？さっき食たべたばっかじゃん。
E? Sakki tabeta bakka jan.
Huh? (What are you talking about?) You just ate!

先さき(saki) = recently
ばっか(bakka) = just now

It’s also possible to use じゃん as a simple exclamation, like “Wow!”

So, instead of saying:

あれ、トムクルーズじゃない？
Are, Tomu Kuruuzu janai?
Isn’t that Tom Cruise?

You can say:

あれ、トムクルーズじゃん！
Are, Tomu Kuruuzu jan!
OMG/Wow! That IS Tom Cruise!

たまごっちじゃん！
Tamagocchi jan!
Wow! It’s Tamagocchi!

 

Let’s sum up what we learned today. Depending on the intonation, you can use じゃない and じゃん to say:

• It’s not〜
• It is〜, isn’t it?
• What are you talking about? It is〜
• Wow! It’s 〜!

It’s confusing at first, so I recommend you watch the video lesson and practice saying them by yourself. Keep practicing, and you’ll get the hang of it!