Ja nai?

[Ravendust]

I often hear 'ja nai' come up in anime and j-pop, I don't have the kanji for it, anyone know what it means? It's japanese.

 

[KarrdeKNR]

There's no kanji for it. It's a short form/plain form verb ending. Ja nai = ja arimasen. Negative non-past tense ending for nouns and na type adjectives. IE genki ja arimasen = genki ja nai = genki nai = not healthy/energetic/etc. All depending on the level of formality, of course. If I'm not mistaken, it evolved from dewa arimasen.

-Karrde-

 

[DPredator]

I thought "Ja nai?" was used to ask for confirmation IE: "John bought a new bike" "Really?"

With "Really?" being "Ja nai?"

 

[Ravendust]

Confusing but thanks a lot, I tried to pair it up with something and it seemed true enough;

Audio: Ai Ja Nai
Subtitle: That is not love

Thanks again