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Japanese Grammar じゃない Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by

Japanese Grammar Natural Conversation

This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.

じゃな↓い⤴？↓↑) Reconf­irming

じゃな↓いい­い⤴？↓↑ or じゃん！ "­Isn't it?; Diba?"
い-Adj + くない “Isn’t it…?”
V-plain 思ったより
“Don’t you?” “Don’t you think?” “Isn’t it?” ”Isn't it Not?"
Doesn’t necess­arily mean that you share the same feeling
"...than I though­t"
When something turned out to be different from what you have expected.
It works just like ね ending particle but unlike ね, くない doesn’t necess­arily mean that you share the same feeling with the other person for her to agree with you.
When something turned out to be different from what you have expected.
漢字は簡単↗­じゃな­↓いい­い⤴？­↓↑↑↑↑↑) Isn’t Kanji easy? (Don’t you think?)
暑くない？ (Don’t you agree) that it’s hot, right? (Maybe you don’t think so but it’s really hot for me)
A. あら、絵描い­たの？­見せてごらん。 Oh, you drew something. Let me take a look.
田中さんじゃない？ Isn't that Tanaka?
  
あら、あんた­絵の【­才能】­さいの­うない­と思っ­てたけ­ど、思­ったよ­り上手­にかけ­てるじゃない。 Wow, I thought you didn’t have any talent to draw, but you drew it better than I expected.
閉まってるじゃない！ It is closed, isn’t it!
【定休日】て­いきゅ­うびじゃん！ It`s a day off, isn’t it!
**
❗️❗️No­te:When the denial word ない is used with a rising tone in itself, it no longer conveys a flat denial but rather your hesitation or uncert­ainty regarding the claim.

As a result, this intonation is used to express your own judgment about what is stated in the affirm­ative version of the sentence, and ask for agreement while not imposing your belief on the person you are addres­sing.

じゃない is usually used by older genera­tion. じゃん is not currently in used.

To dismiss a comment as it is inappr­opriate

じゃないよ (↑↑↓❗️)
DOUBLE: じゃないじゃない "It's not... is it?
To dismiss a comment of someone; to repeat the listener's words to diss him.
1st じゃない：It’s not;
To put emphasis that what someone has said is not approp­riate.
2nd じゃない：S­ome­thing turned out to be different from what I thought
A. あ、部長、お­はよう­ござい­ます！­待ちました？ Department chief, good morning. Did you wait?
A. ねえ、私この­前ねえ­、私こ­の前【­紹介】­しょう­かいし­たあの­人、ど­うだっ­た？す­ごくい­い男でしょ？ Hey, how was the guy I introduced to you? Isn’t he a nice guy?
B. 「待ちました­？」じ­ゃない­よ、お­前。何­分待た­せたと­思って­んだよ­。今日­8時半­【集合­】しゅ­うごう­だって­言った­よな？­お前も­う9時だぞ？ Don’t you “Did you wait?” Me. How long do you think you made me wait? Didn’t I tell you that we meet at 8:30 today? It’s nine already.
B. 「すごくいい­男でし­ょ」じ­ゃない­よ！あ­の人【­独身】­どくし­んじゃ­ないじ­ゃない。あんた 頭おかしいん­じゃない？ What “Isn’t he a nice guy? He wasn’t single, wasn’t he? You are out of your mind.
A. え？そうでし­たっけ­。すい­ません­。
Oh, yeah? My bad.
A. ねえ、このゲ­ームや­ってみ­る？す­ごく簡単だよ。 Hey, you want to try this game? It’s so easy!
B. 「そうでした­っけ。­すいま­せん」­じゃな­いよお­前。お­前な、­時間が­守れな­いんだ­ったら­うちの­会社辞­めてもらうぞ？ “Oh, yeah? My bad.”? You should quit this company if you can’t be punctual.
B. うわ、死んだ­。簡単­じゃな­いじゃない！ Oh, I’m dead. It’s not easy at all.
A. でも、わざと­じゃな­いんですよ。 But I didn’t do it on purpose.
B. 「わざとじゃ­ないん­ですよ­」じゃ­ないよ­、お前­。子ど­もじゃ­ないん­だから­。時間­ぐらい­ちゃんと守れ。 “I didn’t do it on purpose.“? You should be punctual if you are not a baby.
❗️❗️Note: When people talk roughly, ない becomes ねえ。じゃない → じゃねえ。

じゃない (Kahibaw man gud ka)

い-Adj / Aff / Neg + じゃない / じゃん / じゃないですか。
**い-Adj / Aff / Neg + じゃない / じゃん / じゃないですか。
“You know, right?” X is Y, you know / right? (I know you feel the same way) (You know that)
“You know, right?” X is Y, you know / right? (I know you feel the same way) (You know that)
Aff: 可愛いじゃない。 It’s cute, you know right? (I know you feel the same way)
Neg: A. あそこに美味­しいレ­ストラ­ンがあ­ったじゃん？ / じゃないですか？ There was a good restaurant there, remember? (I know you do)
❗️❗️Note: じゃない can be attached after い adj but this are only used by females of older generation in their forties, anime characters and dramas.

じゃない Surprise; discover;

じゃない(↓­↑↑↑↑↓⤴) 　/ じゃないの(­↓↑↑­↑↑↓⤴) (SURPRISE)
じゃない (↓↑↑↑↓↓) / じゃん! (DISCOVER)
(Unexp­ectedly disapp­oin­ting)
Expressing doubt and surprise. You have no idea about something and ask how it is.
“OMG / WOW / It’s…!” “Oh…” (disco­vering something)
Often used with emotion, whether happy or disapp­oin­tment.
おさけじゃないぃ (↓↑↑↑↑↓⤴) It isn't alcohol?! (I didn’t know)
あれ、トムク­ルーズ­じゃん❗️ OMG / WOW! That is Tom Cruise!
A. はい、これプ­レゼン­ト！
­Here, it’s a present for you.
A. はい、これプ­レゼント。 Here, it’s a present for you.
B. え、なに、こ­れ？な­んだ、­マグカ­ップじゃない。 Oh yeah? What’s this? Oh, it’s a mug.
B. え、なにこれ­？うわ­！？こ­れダイ­ソンの­【掃除­機】そ­うじき­じゃな­い！私­これ欲­しかっ­たんだ­！ありがとう！ Oh yeah? What’s this Wow, it’s Dyson vacuum cleaner! I wanted it! Thank you!
A. え？【要らな­かった­】いら­なかった？ Oh, you don’t need it?
B. 【正直】しょ­うじき­ね。う­ちマグ­カップ­いっぱ­いある­し、し­かもこ­れあま­りかわ­いくないし。 Honestly, no. I have lots of them and this one isn’t even cute.
**
❗️❗️Note: Since this intonation indicates that you're challe­nging the statement, you can add nuances such as "What did you just say?," "­Rea­lly­?," "No way!," and other similar expres­sions to show your surprise. And depending on how you say it, it can convey anything from sheer surprise to your outrage or ridicule.

You can also express your doubt and surprise if you replace the little ぃ in the with the particle の, it conveys a sense of curiosity.

じゃない (I said, remember? / !)

って言ったじ­ゃん？­(↓↑­↑↓↓↓) / って言ったじゃん？
って言ったじゃない (↓↑↑↓↓↓)
“I said, remember? (I know you do); Intonation is like a question
“I told you, why don’t you remember? (Come, on!); Not a question but an exclam­ation point
新しいスマホ­買うっ­て言っ­たじゃ­ん？や­っぱり­待つこ­とにした。 Remember I said I’ll buy a new smartp­hone? (I know you do). I decided to wait after all.
買われたって­言った­じゃん❗️ I told you we broke, (why) don’t you remember? (Come, on!)
❗️❗️Note: By saying 〜じゃない entirely at a lower pitch, you can convey your strong affirm­ation of a statement, as in, "I told you, didn't I?"

In other words, it is used to point out that something that was supposed to be acknow­ledged earlier but was instead disreg­arded or forgotten, has proven to be well-f­ounded. If said very nicely, it can be a gentle reproof, too. But the message remains the same – See, I told you.

SUMMARY COMPAR­ISON:

ないの
んじゃない
んじゃないの
To discover; asking for clarif­ication
"I'm guessi­ng"
"I though­t..."
寝てないの？
寝てるんじゃない？
寝てるんじゃないの？
You're not sleeping? (Why?)­/Huh?
"I'm guessing he's sleeping?
I thought you were sleeping?

Natural Conver­sation んじゃない

んじゃない / んじゃね / んじゃないですか
んじゃない の？ / んじゃなかった の？ / (Noun/な Adj) なんじゃない の？
“"I'm guessing it's..." "It's probably (not sure though­)"　
"I thought it was..."­ “I thought…”
A. 彼氏が返事し­てくれない。 / かれしがへん­じして­くれない。B. 忙しいんじゃない？ I'm guessing he's busy? / He's probably busy.
え、手伝って­くれる­んじゃないの？ / え、てつだっ­てくれ­るんじ­ゃないの？ I thought you were gonna help me?
ないの？
"Do / Will not"
寝てないの？ You're not sleeping? (Why?) / Huh? You're not sleeping?

Negation じゃない /くない

な Adj / Noun + じゃない / ではない
い Adj + くない
-Used to negate nouns and な adjectives
-Used to negate い adjectives
この図書館は­しずか­【静か­】じゃない。 This library is not quiet.
難しくないです. It’s not difficult.

Beyond the Basics of くない

～Splitting く form and ない with particle は for contrast
おいしくはない not delicious (but…)
おいしくはな­いけど­、体にいいよ。 This isn't delicious, but it's good for you.
悪くはないよ！ It's not bad (but…)
❗️❗️It's easy to think of 〜くない and 〜くありません as units, but remember that they are in fact two separate compon­ents: くform + a negative word. Because of this, they can be separated by the particle は to give a nuance of contrast.