GRAMMAR DETAIL
わけではない
Negates an entire judgment or corrects an overly broad generalization.
Examples
忙しいからといって、約束を破ってよいわけではない。
Being busy does not mean that it is acceptable to break a promise.
Words used
高い物が必ずしも丈夫なわけではない。
Expensive things are not necessarily durable.
Words used
甘い物が嫌いなわけではないが、あまり食べない。
It is not that I dislike sweets, but I do not eat them very often.
Words used
Study notes
1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning
- Structure:
わけではないrejects a preceding explanation or judgment, or limits an overly broad generalization. - Basic usage:
高い物が必ずしも丈夫なわけではない。limits the generalization that expensive things are always durable.
2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions
- The scope of partial and complete negation
全員が賛成したわけではないdenies unanimous agreement and indicates that some people did not agree. Its scope differs from誰も賛成しなかった, which explicitly states that nobody agreed.
- Connecting na-adjectives
- A na-adjective takes
な, as in丈夫なわけではないor嫌いなわけではない. The negative ending leaves the connection of the preceding quality unchanged.
- A na-adjective takes