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〜ぬ classical negative (= ない): Meaning & Examples

nu · JLPT N1

JLPT N19 textsStudy card

〜ぬ means “classical negative (= ない)”. It is a JLPT N1 pattern: below are its construction, the nuances that trip learners up, and the sentences where real Japanese writers use it.

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一枚いちまいStudy card

A free one-page study card for 〜ぬ (classical negative (= ない)), JLPT N1: what it means, how it attaches, 3 example sentences with furigana, and the nuances that trip learners up. Read it right here, or take the PDF or PNG with you. We never ask for an email for this card.

The 〜ぬ study card: one A4 page holding the pattern, its JLPT N1 meaning, the construction rules, 3 example sentences with furigana, and the nuance notes.
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How 〜ぬ works

It means precisely what ない means, and you build it the same way: take the ない-form and swap ない for ぬ — 知らない → 知らぬ. It survives most visibly as a noun modifier (見知らぬ人, “a stranger”), in fixed expressions (思わぬ結果, 相変わらず), and at the end of sentences in literary or deliberately old-fashioned writing. する is irregular: せぬ, never ×しぬ.

構文こうぶんConstruction

  • ない-form minus ない + ぬ

    知らぬ人が立っていた。 — A stranger was standing there.

  • Modifying a noun — the commonest use by far

    思わぬ結果になった。 — It led to an unexpected result.

  • Sentence-final, literary

    彼は何も語らぬ。 — He says nothing.

  • する → せぬ ・ worn down further to 〜ん in speech

    分からん。 — Dunno.

例文れいぶんIn a sentence

A stranger was standing there.
It turned out in a way nobody expected.
He left without saying a word.

注意点ちゅういてんNuances

  • Recognising these as ない in costume unlocks a great deal of literary text.
  • 〜ん (分からん, 知らん) is this same ぬ worn down, and it is thoroughly modern casual speech — especially in Kansai. The polite ません contains it too.
  • ぬ modifies nouns and ends sentences; ず links clauses. That is the practical division of labour between the two classical negatives.
  • Producing it yourself is rarely necessary and easy to overdo — unearned ぬ reads as costume drama. Recognition is the realistic goal.
How 〜ぬ differs from similar patterns
  • 〜ず — 〜ず is the same classical negative in its clause-linking role: 言いわずに帰かえった. Use ず to join clauses, ぬ to modify a noun or close a sentence.
  • 〜べからず — 〜べからず is a fossilised compound built on this negative — literally “must not”, and mostly seen on old signs.
  • 〜ないで — 〜ないで is the everyday spoken form that does the work ぬ and ず do in writing.

練習れんしゅうYour Turn

Tip

Find three 〜ぬ words hiding in plain sight — 見知みしらぬ, 思おもわぬ, and one more of your own — then rewrite each with ない to prove to yourself they are the same form.

〜ぬ (classical negative (= ない)) in real sentences

Each one is quoted from a published Japanese text in this library and links to the story it came from. Some use older spellings, or break off where the sentence carried on. They are transcribed exactly as their authors wrote them.

— from The Head and the Belly (N2)

— from The Ghost of the Residence (N1)

— from Apple Song (N3)

— from Dadara Danbei (N1)

Appears in 9 of 367 texts in our library.

蔵書ぞうしょThe texts

9 texts in the library use 〜ぬ

Free to read in full. Furigana over every kanji, a dictionary on any word you tap, and an English breakdown of each sentence.

お住の霊 cover Read お住の霊 The Ghost of the Residence 岡本 綺堂 25 min read · Short Story 修禅寺物語 cover Read 修禅寺物語 The Tale of Shuzenji 岡本 綺堂 91 min read · Short Story だだら団兵衛 cover Read だだら団兵衛 Dadara Danbei 山本 周五郎 88 min read · Short Story 頭ならびに腹 cover Read 頭ならびに腹 The Head and the Belly 横光 利一 23 min read · Short Story 牡丹灯記 cover Read 牡丹灯記 The Peony Lantern 田中 貢太郎 58 min read · Short Story 闇汁図解 cover Read 闇汁図解 Illustration of the Dark Stew 正岡 子規 12 min read · Article 林檎のうた cover Read 林檎のうた Apple Song 片山 広子 3 min read · Short Story 茶碗の中 cover Read 茶碗の中 Inside the Teacup 小泉 八雲 16 min read · Article 世界怪談名作集 cover Read 世界怪談名作集 World Famous Ghost Stories ビアス アンブローズ 62 min read · Short Story

解説かいせつBackground

Where this 〜ぬ explanation comes from

〜ぬ sits at JLPT N1 in the 302-point taxonomy every text in this library is tagged against. Each text is read for the patterns it contains, which is what lets this page list every text that uses 〜ぬ and pull its example sentences out of them.

The example sentences were not written to demonstrate the rule. They are quoted from published Japanese texts in this library (The Head and the Belly and The Ghost of the Residence among them), and each one links back to the story it came from, so you can read the sentence where it actually happened.

質問しつもんQuestions

〜ぬ: questions & answers

What is 〜ぬ?

The classical negative ending, equivalent to modern ない. Form it from the ない-form: 行かない → 行かぬ, 知らない → 知らぬ. する is the exception, becoming せぬ.

What is the difference between 〜ぬ and 〜ず?

They are two forms of the same classical negative with different jobs. ぬ modifies nouns and ends sentences (見知らぬ人, 何も語らぬ); ず links one clause to the next (何も言わず、出て行った).

Is 分からん related to 〜ぬ?

Yes — 〜ん is ぬ worn down by centuries of speech. 分からん, 知らん and できん are all casual negatives, common in Kansai and in men’s speech, and the polite ending ません descends from the same source.

Is there a printable 〜ぬ cheat sheet?

Yes. A free one-page 〜ぬ (classical negative (= ない)) study card sits at the top of this page, as both a PDF and a PNG. It carries the JLPT N1 meaning, how the pattern attaches, 3 example sentences with furigana, and the nuances learners get wrong. You do not need an account or an email address to download it.

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