adverbial N3 common casualpolitewritten

決して〜ない — never / by no means

決して〜ない ・ けっして

Meaning

Conveys the speaker's resolve or a standing principle, not statistics — 'absolutely not, I won't let it happen,' rather than 'it seldom occurs.'

Key sentence

I will never forget you.

Formation

Attaches toFormExample
Negative predicate 決して + …ない 決けっして許ゆるさない

When: Common in rules, warnings, and promises (決けっして触ふらないでください = 'never touch this').

Examples

I will never break this promise.
You must never give up.

Easily confused with

全然〜ない 全然〜ない is a factual 'not at all'; 決して〜ない carries determination or principle — 'never, by no means.' めったに〜ない めったに〜ない = 'rarely' (it can still happen); 決して〜ない = 'never' (absolutely ruled out).

See 決して〜ない in real sentences

Jengo shows 決して〜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 with reference to A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar.

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