ものか

JLPT N2approx.Casual
Meaning
  1. 1Expresses the speaker’s firm refusal: “No way I’ll…”.Ex. 1
  2. 2Expresses the speaker’s emphatic disbelief: “There’s no way…”.Ex. 2
Formation
Verb (plain form)+ものか受けるものか、言ったものか
i-adj. (plain form)+ものか高かったものか
na-adj. stem+なだった+ものか
Noun+なだった+ものか
Contractionものか→もんか受けるもんか
Examples
Accept such an unreasonable demand? No way!
彼かれがそんな嘘うそをつくものか。信しんじられないよ。
There’s no way he’d tell a lie like that. I can’t believe it.
Usage

ものか is blunt and emotionally charged, especially in spoken refusals, retorts, and expressions of disbelief. It conveys the speaker’s forceful rejection rather than a neutral assessment.

Watch out

Note that the final か is rhetorical; the sentence is not asking for a yes-or-no answer.

Do not assume that only nonpast forms can precede ものか; past plain forms can also occur.

Do not use this blunt expression when a neutral or deferential response is needed.

Easily confused with
  • っこないN2「っこない」 corresponds only to the 'how could...' sense of 「ものか」, strongly denying possibility, and cannot express the volition 'definitely will not...'; it attaches only to the ます-stem of verbs, often to potential verbs. When denying possibility with a verb, the two are largely interchangeable.
  • やしないN1「やしない」 attaches only to verbs, using the ます-stem (e.g. 「守りやしない」), and is a negative form rather than a rhetorical question; in its volition sense it usually carries dissatisfaction or contempt toward someone's behavior. When denying possibility it is close to 「ものか」, as in 「できやしない」 ≈ 「できるものか」.
  • わけがないN3「わけがない」 corresponds only to sense 2 of 「ものか」, concluding that something is 'impossible' based on logic and common sense; its register is neutral and it can be used in writing, but it cannot express the volition 'definitely will not...'. With nouns it takes 「の」, not 「な」.
  • まいN2「まい」 can also express 'definitely will not...', but its tone is formal and stiff, leaning written, whereas 「ものか」 is emotional and colloquial. For negative conjecture, 「まい」 means only 'probably won't', far less emphatic than 「ものか」. 「まい」 does not attach to the past form.

っこない stresses impossibility, while やしない emphatically negates an action; ものか adds the speaker’s forceful refusal or rejection. わけがない denies something on grounds of reason, whereas まい expresses negative intention or conjecture in a more restrained, literary style.

Grammar · JLPT grammar levels are community estimates, not official (no official lists have been published since the 2010 revision).

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