Is not with ではありません

～ではありません ~ dewa arimasen Is not

ではありません (dewa arimasen) makes A は B です negative: "A is not B". In speech you will mostly hear じゃありません or じゃないです.

Level: JLPT N5, beginner
Type: Sentence basics
English links: the verb be, negatives, short answers

What it means

To say "A is not B", take away です and put ではありません in its place. 私は学生です becomes 私は学生ではありません: "I am not a student".

では is written with は, so you say it "dewa". ありません is the negative of あります. You do not need to know that yet. Just learn ではありません as one piece.

There are a few versions. ではありません is the textbook form, and you will see it in writing and hear it in formal speech. In conversation, people say じゃありません or じゃないです. In the staff room you will mostly hear じゃないです, and with friends just じゃない.

Like です, it never changes for the subject. "I am not", "she is not" and "they are not" all end in ではありません. That is the part that makes English harder for our students.

How to build it

Pattern	How it works
A は B ではありません A wa B dewa arimasen	Polite and a little formal. Common in writing and in textbooks.
A は B じゃありません A wa B ja arimasen	Spoken. Still polite, but softer.
A は B じゃないです A wa B ja nai desu	Very common in polite conversation.
A は B じゃない A wa B ja nai	The plain form, with friends and family.

Examples

私は学生ではありません。 watashi wa gakusei dewa arimasen. I am not a student.
今日は休みではありません。 kyou wa yasumi dewa arimasen. Today is not a day off.
それは私の傘じゃありません。 sore wa watashi no kasa ja arimasen. That is not my umbrella.
田中先生は英語の先生じゃないです。 tanaka-sensei wa eigo no sensei ja nai desu. Mr Tanaka is not an English teacher.
明日は授業じゃないです。 ashita wa jugyou ja nai desu. There are no classes tomorrow.

How English says it

English puts "not" after the verb "be": I am not, she is not, they are not. In speech, these become I'm not, she isn't and they aren't. There is no "amn't" in standard English, so "I" always takes "I'm not".

Everything from A is B still applies. The subject must be there, "be" must agree with it, and a single job noun still needs "a": "He isn't a doctor".

Why it can make English hard

ではありません feels like one block that means "not". Some learners keep "not" and drop "be": "I not a student".
The Japanese ending is the same for every subject, so isn't and aren't get mixed up. "They isn't students" is common.
Short answers need a subject in English. The Japanese answer can be just じゃないです, so you may hear "No, is not" instead of "No, it isn't".

Mistakes you will hear

I not a student. I'm not a student. The student keeps "not" and loses "am". English needs both.
They isn't teachers. They aren't teachers. The negative must agree with the subject, the same as the positive.
He is not doctor. He is not a doctor. The article goes missing in the negative too.
A: Is this your pen? B: No, is not. A: Is this your pen? B: No, it isn't. English short answers need a subject.

In the classroom

Play "Not me". Show a picture of a famous person. Students take turns: "I'm not Ohtani. I'm Kenta." It is silly, and they say "I'm not" many times.
Write a sentence on the board and put a big NOT card in a student's hand. They must walk to the right place in the sentence, after "is", and the class reads it out.
Drill short answers in pairs: "Is this your bag?" "No, it isn't." Do not accept "No" alone at first. Ask for the full short answer.

Practice

Try each one, then open it to check.

1. Fill the gap: 私は先生＿ありません。 (I am not a teacher.)

Answer: では (or じゃ)

では + ありません is the polite negative of です.
2. Make it negative: これは本です。

Answer: これは本ではありません。 (or これは本じゃありません。)

Take away です and put ではありません in its place.
3. A student writes "My sister not a nurse." Fix it.

Answer: My sister isn't a nurse. (or My sister is not a nurse.)

English needs "is" before "not".
4. Translate into Japanese: I'm not Japanese.

Answer: 私は日本人ではありません。 (or 日本人じゃないです。)

The noun 日本人 takes ではありません. In speech you can drop 私は.