JapaneseJLPT
JLPT N4 grammar · Chapter 12

～はずがありません

There is no reasonable way this can be true

You'll be able to reject a possibility confidently because it conflicts with what you know.

Illustration of the scene described by There is no way a bicycle will fit in this tiny box.
Read it first

この小ちいさな箱はこに自転車じてんしゃが入はいるはずがありません。

kono chiisana hako ni jitensha ga hairu hazu ga arimasen.

What do you think this sentence means?

There is no way a bicycle will fit in this tiny box.

Why it means that

Reject a possibility based on reason

～はずがありません strongly rejects a possibility as incompatible with what the speaker knows. It means “there is no way” or “cannot possibly,” as a judgment rather than an objective guarantee.

Example

一分いっぷんで駅えきに着つくはずがありません。

ippun de eki ni tsuku hazu ga arimasen.

There is no way we can reach the station in one minute.

How it is built

Form and use ～はずがありません

Contrast this with ないはず: 来こないはず means you expect someone not to come; 来くるはずがない strongly rejects their coming. The reason should support the strength of the statement.

Plain verb / い-adjective+はずがありません/Noun の / な-adjective な+はずがありません
Examples

一分いっぷんで駅えきに着つくはずがありません。

ippun de eki ni tsuku hazu ga arimasen.

There is no way we can reach the station in one minute.

あの店みせが安やすいはずがありません。

ano mise ga yasui hazu ga arimasen.

There is no way that shop is inexpensive.

Compare

Expected not to happen or impossible?

ない before はず negates the expected event; はずがない rejects the possibility of the event. The second makes a much stronger claim.

  • 来ないはず

    蓮れんは来こないはずです。

    ren wa konai hazu desu.

    I do not expect Ren to come.

    The speaker expects Ren not to come, but does not rule out his arrival.

  • 来るはずがない

    蓮れんは来くるはずがありません。

    ren wa kuru hazu ga arimasen.

    There is no way Ren will come.

    The speaker strongly rejects Ren’s arrival as incompatible with what they know.

Examples

田中たなかさんは今いま、アメリカに住すんでいます。今日きょうのパーティーに来くるはずがありません。

tanaka-san wa ima, amerika ni sunde imasu. kyou no paatii ni kuru hazu ga arimasen.

Tanaka-san lives in America now. There's no way she's coming to today's party.

五百円ごひゃくえんで新あたらしいパソコンが買かえるはずがありません。

gohyakuen de atarashii pasokon ga kaeru hazu ga arimasen.

There's no way you can buy a new computer for 500 yen.

あんなに練習れんしゅうした彼かれが負まけるはずがありません。

anna ni renshuu shita kare ga makeru hazu ga arimasen.

There's no way he'll lose after practicing that much.

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