JLPT N5 · い-adjective

ない (nai)

ない is a Japanese い-adjective meaning “nonexistent; not being (there)”. It is usually written in kana. It appears in JLPT N5 vocabulary lists and is marked as a common word in JMdict.

Reading: ない
Romaji: nai
Word class: い-adjective
Level: JLPT N5 (unofficial)

Meaning

nonexistent; not being (there) · い-adjective · usually written in kana
unowned; not had; unpossessed · い-adjective
unique · い-adjective
not; impossible; won't happen · い-adjective · as ...ことがない, etc.; indicates negation, inexperience, unnecessariness or impossibility
not · い-adjective, auxiliary adjective · after the conjunctive form of an adjective

Example sentences

２つの意見に大した差はない。

There is not much difference between the two opinions.

Tatoeba #235545

引退するつもりは毛頭ない。

I have no intention whatever of resigning.

Tatoeba #81997

車も何もなく、生活保護で生きてます。

I'm living on welfare, without a car or anything.

Tatoeba #74726

Sentences from the Tatoeba project, linked to this word in JMdict.

Conjugation of ない

い-adjective. Plain and polite forms below; try any other word in the Japanese verb conjugator.

Form	Japanese	Reading
Present	ない	ない nai
Negative	なくない	なくない nakunai
Past	なかった	なかった nakatta
Negative past	なくなかった	なくなかった nakunakatta
Te-form	なくて	なくて nakute
Adverb (~ku)	なく	なく naku
Conditional (~ba)	なければ	なければ nakereba

Source: JMdict entry 1529520 (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0). Level: unofficial JLPT list – how levels are assigned.