必ずしも～ない
Not always or not necessarily
You’ll be able to soften an absolute claim by saying that it does not hold in every case.
高い道具が、必ずしも一番使いやすいとは言えません。
takai dougu ga, kanarazushimo ichiban tsukaiyasui to wa iemasen.
What do you think this sentence means?
Expensive tools are not necessarily the easiest to use.
State that something is not always true
必ずしも～ない modifies a negative predicate to indicate that a generalization does not hold in every circumstance ("not necessarily...", "not always...").
日本人だからといって、必ずしも納豆が好きなわけではない。
nihonjin da kara to itte, kanarazushimo nattou ga suki na wake dewa nai.
Being Japanese doesn’t necessarily mean you like natto.
雨の日は必ずしも悪い日だとは限らない。
ame no hi wa kanarazushimo warui hi da to wa kagiranai.
A rainy day is not necessarily a bad day.
Place 必ずしも before a negative conclusion
Place 必ずしも at the beginning or middle of a clause, followed by a negative ending, commonly ～わけではない, ～とは限らない, or negative potential verbs.
有名な大学を出た人が、必ずしも仕事ができるとは限らない。
yuumei na daigaku o deta hito ga, kanarazushimo shigoto ga dekiru to wa kagiranai.
Graduating from a famous university doesn't necessarily mean a person will be great at work.
値段の高いワインが、必ずしも料理に合うとは限らない。
nedan no takai wain ga, kanarazushimo ryouri ni au to wa kagiranai.
An expensive wine doesn’t necessarily go well with the food.
長く寝ても、必ずしも疲れが取れるわけではない。
nagaku nete mo, kanarazushimo tsukare ga toreru wake de wa nai.
Sleeping for a long time doesn’t necessarily get rid of your tiredness.
練習の時間が長いチームが、必ずしも強いわけではない。
renshuu no jikan ga nagai chiimu ga, kanarazushimo tsuyoi wake de wa nai.
Teams that practice for long hours aren’t necessarily strong.
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