modality N3 common casualpolitewritten
わけではない — it's not that ~
わけではない
Builds on わけだ
Meaning
- it's not that ~ / it doesn't (necessarily) mean ~ — a partial denial of a natural assumption
Key sentence
嫌いなわけではないが、あまり食べない。
It's not that I dislike it — I just don't eat much of it.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| plain verb / i-adjective | V/A(plain) + わけではない | 食べたいわけではない |
| na-adjective / noun | na-adj + な + わけ…; N + という + わけ… | 嫌いなわけではない / 反対というわけではない |
Examples
毎日走っているが、痩せたいわけではない。
I run every day, but it's not that I want to lose weight.
お金がないわけではないけれど、無駄遣いはしたくない。
It's not that I have no money — I just don't want to waste it.
彼を信じていないわけではない。
It's not that I don't trust him.
When you can't use it
- わけではない softens or corrects an assumption the listener might reasonably draw — it does not flatly deny the whole thing. It often pairs with が／けれど to add the real qualification ('it's not that ~, but ~').
Easily confused with
〜わけがない Look-alikes, opposite force. わけではない = 'not necessarily / not entirely so' (partial); わけがない = 'no way / impossible' (total denial). Don't confuse の／が. 〜というわけではない Same meaning; the という version explicitly frames it as denying an interpretation ('it's not as though ~'), slightly more explanatory. とは限らない わけではない denies an assumption about a particular case; とは限らない says a general rule has exceptions ('not always').
See わけではない in real sentences
Jengo shows わけではない the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar.