English–Japanese
“not have” in Japanese
Japanese
Pronunciation
Romajinai
Example
私はお金がないです。watashi wa o kane ga na i de su
I do not have money.
How to say “not have” in Japanese
“Not have” in Japanese is ない (nai).
ない (nai) marks something as absent from the situation, so it can describe both not having something and something not existing.
Example sentences with ない
私はペンがないです。watashi wa pe n ga na i de su
I do not have a pen.
冷蔵庫に牛乳がないです。rei zō ko ni gyū nyū ga na i de su
There is no milk in the refrigerator.
Tips for using ない
- The conversational polite form ないです (nai desu) is commonly used with this adjective, as in 私はお金がないです (watashi wa okane ga nai desu), meaning that the speaker does not have money.