A strong denial with 〜っこない
Grammar: Idiomatic & Emphatic Expressions
～っこない is used to express a strong negation, indicating that something is absolutely impossible or has no chance of happening. It conveys a speaker’s firm conviction that a certain action or state is not feasible.
It translates to phrases like “no way ~”, “definitely not possible”, or “absolutely cannot ~”. It emphasizes impossibility or strong denial, often with a casual or emphatic tone.
It attaches to the stem of a verb (e.g., 食べられっこない from 食べる, meaning “no way I can eat”). It often follows potential verbs and is often used with conditionals.
It is often paired with emphatic expressions like なんて (e.g., なんてありっこない, “no way that’s possible”). The pattern is a colloquial derivative of ～わけがない, but ～っこない is less formal and more conversational.
Further Reading
- 【JLPT N２】文法・例文：～っこない (nihongokyoshi-net.com)
- 【N2文法】〜っこない (nihongobu.net)
- 〜っこない｜日本語能力試験 JLPT N２ (www.edewakaru.com)
