〜なくもない
- 1Expresses hesitant or partial willingness or agreement: 'I might …', 'it's not that I won't …'.Ex. 1
- 2Indicates that something is not entirely impossible, though not likely: 'it's not out of the question that …'.Ex. 2
- 3With perception or judgment verbs such as 分かる or 気がする, it means 'to some extent' or 'somewhat'.
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Used in conversation and writing to soften a statement and avoid a firm yes or no, often when the speaker is reluctant, modest, or being cautious. It often appears with verbs of thinking, understanding or feeling, such as 考える, 分かる and 気がする. Compared with わけではない, it leans toward weak affirmation rather than denying an assumption.
Learners sometimes read it as full agreement, but it signals only weak, reluctant or partial acceptance.
Do not use it when you want to give a clear, enthusiastic yes; it sounds noncommittal.
Note that the verb must be in its ない-form stem: 考えなくもない, not 考えるなくもない.
- なくはないN2「なくはない」means almost exactly the same as「なくもない」, so they can generally be swapped, and both take the same attachments (verb ない-form, い-adjective く-form, noun / な-adjective + で). It is simply less frequently used, and it tends to be followed by contrastive conjunctions like「けど」or「が」more often than「なくもない」is.
- ないことはないN3The two mean basically the same thing and are interchangeable in most cases.「ないことはない」attaches「ことはない」to a negative form, e.g.,「行けないことはない」, and the variant「ないこともない」also exists; in daily conversation it is used more often than「なくもない」.
- ないものでもないN1「ないものでもない」has a similar meaning and is largely interchangeable when attaching to verbs, but it is bookish and stiff-sounding, carrying a forced-concession—even condescending—nuance, so use caution with superiors. It normally attaches only to the verb ない-form and rarely takes adjectives.
- わけではないN3「わけではない」negates an inference or misunderstanding ('it's not that...') and can combine with words like「すべて」for partial negation, taking plain forms; by contrast,「なくもない」expresses affirmative meaning with reservations. The related form「〜ないわけではない」carries a meaning close to this pattern.
- ないとも限らないN1「ないとも限らない」only means 'there's no guarantee something won't happen,' corresponding solely to the 'not impossible' sense of this pattern. It is somewhat formal, typically followed by「から」when explaining why precautions should be taken, and it cannot be used to grudgingly affirm your own intentions or feelings.
なくはない is almost interchangeable with it, while ないことはない is more colloquial and more direct, and ないものでもない is stiffer and more literary. わけではない denies an assumption or generalization rather than weakly affirming something, and ないとも限らない warns that something, often undesirable, could happen.
