All JLPT grammar
N2

~っこない

Expresses the impossibility or very low probability of something happening; 'no way', 'impossible'.

At a glance

~っこない means "there's no way..." or "it's impossible that...". It is used in casual speech to say strongly that something cannot or will not happen.

Verb ます-stem + っこない

そんなこと、できっこないよ。 There's no way I can do something like that.


How to form it

Take the ます-form, remove ます, and add っこない:

Verb group Dictionary form ます-stem ~っこない
う-verb 分わかる 分わかり 分わかりっこない
る-verb できる でき できっこない
する する し しっこない
来くる 来くる 来き 来きっこない
Potential verb 勝かてる 勝かて 勝かてっこない

っこない is already negative. It usually stays in this present form.

Examples

  • こんなに雪ゆきが降ふっているんだから、学校がっこうに間まに合あいっこない。

    With snow falling this heavily, there's no way we'll make it to school on time.

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The rest of the lesson

When to use it, common mistakes, nuances and a quick check, with spaced repetition to make it stick.

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