sensushi
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全然〜ない details

not at all — the absolute end of the negative degree scale + write + not

zenzen kakanai

not at all — the absolute end of the negative degree scale

meaning: not write at all

一晩ひとばんかけて読よんだのに、全然ぜんぜん分からわからない。

hitoban kakete yonda noni, zenzen wakaranai.

I spent all night reading it and I still do not understand at all. neutral

値段ねだんは去年きょねんと全然ぜんぜん変かわっていません。

nedan wa kyonen to zenzen kawatte imasen.

The price hasn't changed at all since last year. neutral

  • ない-form
  • i-adjective stem
  • na-adjective

Examples

not at all — nothing of the act or the quality is admitted

一晩ひとばんかけて読よんだのに、全然ぜんぜん分わからない。

hitoban kakete yonda noni, zenzen wakaranai.

I spent all night reading it and I still do not understand at all. neutral

値段ねだんは去年きょねんと全然ぜんぜん変かわっていません。

nedan wa kyonen to zenzen kawatte imasen.

The price hasn't changed at all since last year. neutral

「大丈夫だいじょうぶ？」「うん、全然ぜんぜん痛いたくないよ。」

daijoubu? un, zenzen itakunai yo.

“Are you OK?” “Yeah, it doesn't hurt at all.” casual

締しめ切きりまで時間じかんがないのに、準備じゅんびが全然ぜんぜん進すすんでいません。

shimekiri made jikan ga nai noni, junbi ga zenzen susunde imasen.

The deadline is close and preparations have made no progress whatsoever. neutral

Formation

Notes

In speech 全然 also takes a POSITIVE complement — 全然ぜんぜんいい,
全然ぜんぜん大丈夫だいじょうぶ — which older speakers still object to.
全まったく is the more emphatic, more literary twin the stiffest writing prefers.

Related patterns

Similar

  • 少しも〜ない

    Both deny the whole degree, but 少しも is the emphatic "not even a little" that singles out the smallest amount, while 全然 is the plain absolute — and only 全然 has drifted into positive use (全然ぜんぜん大丈夫だいじょうぶ), which 少しも never allows.

  • もしない

    全然 scales the predicate to zero from outside it, while 〜もしない hangs も on one verb's stem and denies that single expected act — 全然ぜんぜん見みない reports a habit of never watching, 見みもしない accuses someone of not even glancing.

  • あまり〜ない

    Both wait for a negative to complete them, but あまり only scales the predicate down while 全然 wipes it out — あまり食たべない leaves food on the plate, 全然食たべない leaves the plate untouched.