訳(わけ)がないThere is no way, There is no reason, It is impossible, Cannot be

Structure

Verb［る］⁽¹⁾ + わけがない
［な］Adjective + な + わけがない
［い］Adjective + わけがない

⁽¹⁾ Verb［た］

Details

About わけがない

One of the strongest ways to use the noun わけ in Japanese, is in the expression わけがない. This is regularly translated as 'there is no way that (A)', or 'it is impossible that (A)'. However, as mentioned in other わけ lessons, わけ is used very similarly to 'so' in English, so may also be thought of as 'it is SO not (A)', with 'so' being used for emphasis. In this structure, わけ is combined with the case marking particle が, and the い-Adjective ない.

わけがない may be used with verbs, or adjectives in their attributive form.

Caution

Compared to わけではない, わけがない is much stronger, and emphasizes the 'non-existence' of something. This can be thought of as similar to the difference between 'it is so that it isn't (A)' (for わけではない), and 'it is SO not (A)' (for わけがない).

彼(かれ)はいつも遊(あそ)んでいるが、暇(ひま)なわけではない。

He is always going out, but it is not necessarily so that he has a lot of free time.
彼(かれ)はいつも仕事(しごと)をしているから、暇(ひま)なわけがない。

Since he is always working, he SO does not have any free time.

'It is so that it isn't (A)' highlights that (A) is a thing that exists, but not in the way of (A). On the other hand, 'it is SO not (A)' highlights that no part of (A) whatsoever can be considered to be correct/accurate.

Synonyms

Examples

--:--

彼(かれ)が嘘(うそ)をつくわけがない。

There is no way he would lie.

あんな大(だい)ニュース、知(し)らないわけがない。

There is no way not to know this. It is such big news!

日本人(にほんじん)ならそんなことを言(い)うわけがない。

There is no way that a Japanese person would say that.

あれだけ着込(きこ)んだら寒(さむ)いわけがない。

There is no reason why you would feel cold, wearing all those extra clothes.

そんなやり方(かた)でうまくいくわけがない。

With the way you're doing it, it is impossible for it to go well.

Get more example sentences!
Premium users get access to 12 example sentences on all Grammar Points.
Try Bunpro

Self-Study Sentences

Study your own way!

Add sentences and study them alongside Bunpro sentences.

Try Bunpro

Online
There are no Online resources listed for 「わけがない」.
You can . Resources are constantly updated, come back later to see new additions!

Offline
There are no Offline resources listed for 「わけがない」.
You can . Resources are constantly updated, come back later to see new additions!
Track Resources!
Bunpro tracks all of the resources you’ve visited, and offers relevant bookmarks of physical books to help with offline tracking.
Try Bunpro

わけがない – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (7 in total)

Anthropos888
Here another example from the JLPT 2 exam:

暑い地方でも、泥と草で太陽光線を避ける家を作れば、激しくなるという _____。
1. わけがない
2. わけにはいかない
3. わけだ
4. わけではない
When I see all the different わけ together my brain just shuts off

So except for 3) the other answers wouldn’t make any sense at all?
blacktide
I see the following note on this grammar point:

わけがない can be replaced with はずがない, but not always the other way around

Would it be that はずがない doesn’t denote the same level of impossiblility as わけがない? Like はずがない is very unlikely but not impossible, whereas わけがない is certainly impossible?
Daru
Exactly! Its all about level of certainty/possibility.