adverbial N3 common casualpolitewritten

別に〜ない — not particularly

別に〜ない・べつにない

Meaning

not particularly / not especially / nothing in particular — mild, dismissive negation

Signals indifference — 'no special reason / nothing in particular.' Used alone as the reply 別べつに。 it means 'nothing / not really,' and can sound curt or sullen.

Key sentence

別べつに欲ほしくない。

I don't particularly want it.

Formation

Attaches to	Form	Example
Negative predicate	別に + …ない	別べつに困こまらない

Examples

別べつに急いそいでいないから、ゆっくりでいいよ。

I'm not in any particular hurry, so take your time.

「どうしたの？」「別べつに。」

"What's wrong?" "Nothing."

Easily confused with

あまり〜ないあまり〜ない downplays degree ('not very much'); 別に〜ない dismisses relevance or specialness ('nothing in particular'). 全然〜ない別に〜ない is a soft 'not really'; 全然〜ない is an emphatic 'not at all.'

See 別に〜ない in real sentences

Jengo shows 別に〜ない the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.

Study it in Jengo

Sources Compiled from published Japanese grammar references.

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