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Grammar: Assertion and Declaration » 〜わけがない

〜わけがない rules something out completely: “there’s no way” or “it can’t possibly be”. わけ means a reason or grounds, so the phrase says there’s nothing that could make the thing true.

It states the speaker’s own firm judgment. The speaker may find the idea ridiculous, or may simply have reasoned that it can’t happen.

Usage Notes

わけがない follows the plain form of a verb or い-adjective. In the non-past, な-adjectives and nouns take な: 犯人(はんにん)なわけがない “there’s no way they’re the culprit”. Both can use である in formal writing. Nouns can also take の: 小林(こばやし)さんのわけがありません. Past and negative forms attach directly: 来(き)たわけがない.

Casual speech usually drops the が: わけない, or rough わけねえ. わけはない and わけもない are less common variants, and わけは can shrink to わきゃ: そんなわきゃない. Katakana ワケ is common in manga. The polite form is わけがありません or わけないです, and わけがなかった puts the judgment in the past. On its own, そんなわけ(が)ない means “that can’t be true”. In fast speech it shrinks to んなわけない, or just なわけない at the start of a line.

はずがない overlaps heavily and can often replace it. はずがない tends to rule something out from evidence, in more formal writing. わけがない is common in casual speech.

Watch for the unrelated adjective 訳(わけ)ない “easy, no trouble”: 扉(とびら)まで戻(もど)るのは訳(わけ)ない, “getting back to the door is easy”. That one is a predicate on its own (〜のは訳(わけ)ない, 訳(わけ)なく勝(か)つ) and doesn’t follow a verb or adjective directly.

Formation

View formation details
  1. Verb (plain form) ＋ わけがない
    • あいつが負(ま)けるわけがない
    • "There's no way that guy would lose."
  2. い-adjective ＋ わけがない
    • 病人(びょうにん)と喋(しゃべ)って楽(たの)しいわけがない
    • "There's no way chatting with a sick person is fun."
  3. な-adjective ＋ な ＋ わけがない
    • 平気(へいき)なわけがない
    • "There's no way I'm fine."
  4. Noun ＋ な ＋ わけがない
    • 彼(かれ)が犯人(はんにん)なわけがない
    • "There's no way he's the culprit."
  5. 〜わけない (casual)
    • そんなわけないじゃん
    • "No way that's true."
  6. Polite 〜わけがありません
    • そんなわけがありません
    • "That can't possibly be true."

Ruling Something Out

The speaker says something can’t be true or can’t happen. It may answer someone’s suggestion, or it may be the speaker’s own prediction.

  • こんな廃墟(はいきょ)に人(ひと)がいるわけないよ。
  • There's no way anyone is in a ruin like this.

With a potential verb, it says something is impossible to do: できるわけない “there’s no way I can”, 勝(か)てるわけない “there’s no way we can win”, こんな量(りょう)、食(た)べきれるわけない “there’s no way I can eat this much”.

Two dark arched windows in the crumbling wall of an abandoned building.
ARIA The MASTERPIECE » Volume 1 » Page 127

While chasing President Aria in a training gondola, Akari and Aika follow a narrow canal and come out among the ruins of an old settlement from the days when Aqua was still called Mars. Akari glances up at a pair of empty windows and says she felt as if someone was watching them.

藍華(あいか):
「こんな廃虚(はいきょ)に人(ひと)がいる訳(わけ)ないでしょ」
“There's no way anyone's in a ruin like this.”
「脅(おど)かさないでよね　もう！」
“Don't scare me like that, geez!”
View Full Example

Akari and Aika have come out among the ruins of an old settlement, and Akari feels someone watching them. Aika rules it out: 人(ひと)がいる訳(わけ)ない, “there’s no way anyone’s here”. She drops the が and writes わけ in kanji, and でしょ treats the answer as obvious.

Submit an example of ruling something out with わけがない.

Defending Someone

わけがない vouches for a person against an accusation. It says the speaker is sure, not that the person has been proven innocent.

  • 彼女(かのじょ)が嘘(うそ)をつくわけがない！
  • There's no way she would lie!

In mysteries, it’s a stock line for a suspect’s friends: 犯人(はんにん)なわけないじゃない！ “There’s no way they’re the culprit!”

Submit an example of defending someone with わけがない.

Retorting with だろ, でしょ, and じゃん

In manga, わけない often comes with だろ, でしょ, or じゃん. These endings don’t make it a guess. They tell the listener the answer is obvious: “of course not!”

  • 寂(さび)しいわけないだろ。
  • As if I’d be lonely! (No way I’d be lonely.)

A flustered character can use it to deny a feeling, as with 好(す)きなわけねーだろ “As if I like them!”. It can also insist that a feeling is real: 平気(へいき)なわけないだろ！ “How could I be okay!” A line that vouches for a person still belongs under Defending Someone, whatever its ending.

Submit an example of a retort with わけないだろ, でしょ, or じゃん.

Dismissing Your Own Guess with 〜わけないか

A speaker can float an idea, often a hopeful one, then drop it with 〜わけないか: “…no, I guess not.” Here the sentence-final か turns the denial into a conclusion the speaker reaches while talking to themselves.

Manga panel from ポケットモンスタースペシャル showing example of Leaving a door unlocked with 〜っぱなし.
ポケットモンスタースペシャル » Volume 5 » Page 92

Blue tries to sneak into Masaki’s cottage, but the door is locked.

ブルー:
「開(あ)けっぱなし…なわけないか。まあいいわ。」
“There's no way it'd be left unlocked. Well, that's fine.”
View Full Example

Blue tries the door of Masaki’s cottage and finds it locked. For a moment she wonders if it was 開(あ)けっぱなし, left open, then answers herself with なわけないか: “…no, I guess not.” 開けっぱなし is a noun, so it takes な before わけ. The pause doesn’t break the link. まあいいわ, “oh well”, shows she is ready to move on.

Rhetorical そんなわけあるか

In a rhetorical question, わけ(が)あるか strongly rejects an idea: “how could that be?”. It’s a sharper way to say わけがない, often shouted back at someone: そんなわけあるか！ “As if!” A rougher あるかい is common, especially in Kansai speech. The statement わけがある isn’t used in this sense, so only the question form appears.

  • 人間(にんげん)と人形(にんぎょう)を見間違(みまちが)えるわけあるか！
  • How could anyone mistake a doll for a person!
Submit an example of そんなわけあるか.

Double Negatives with 〜ないわけがない

When the word before わけがない is already negative, the result is a strong yes. 知(し)らないわけがない means “there’s no way they don’t know”, so they must know.

  • 覚(おぼ)えてないわけがない！
  • There's no way he doesn’t remember!
Submit an example of a double negative with 〜ないわけがない.

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