あまり with a negative means “not very” or “not much”: あまり広ひろくないです means “not very spacious.”

The idea

あまり with a negative means “not very” or “not much”: あまり広ひろくないです means “not very spacious.” 全然ぜんぜん with a negative means “not at all”: 全然ぜんぜん飲のみません means “I do not drink it at all.”

Patterns to compare
ExamplePattern
あまり広ひろくないです
あまり飲のみません
全然ぜんぜんわかりません

Examples

  • この部屋へやはあまり広ひろくないです。This room is not very spacious.
  • このお茶ちゃはあまり熱あつくありません。This tea is not very hot.
  • この町まちはあまりにぎやかじゃありません。This town is not very lively.
  • コーヒーは全然ぜんぜん飲のみません。I do not drink coffee at all.
  • 今日きょうは全然ぜんぜん寒さむくないです。It is not cold at all today.
  • 日本語にほんごが全然ぜんぜんわかりません。I do not understand Japanese at all.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

あまり does not necessarily mean zero; あまり食たべません suggests eating only a little. In casual speech 全然ぜんぜん can also appear with positive expressions, but practise the negative pattern here.

Try it yourself

  1. Choose the correct answer: この部屋へやはあまり＿。（広ひろくないです／広ひろいです）

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    広くないです

    広ひろくないです — あまり with a negative means “not very” or “not much”: あまり広ひろくないです means “not very spacious.”

  2. Choose the correct answer: 全然ぜんぜん＿。（わかりません／わかります）

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    わかりません

    わかりません — 全然ぜんぜん with a negative means “not at all”: 全然ぜんぜん飲のみません means “I do not drink it at all.”

  3. Choose the correct answer: 「あまり食たべません」→「＿」。（少すこしだけ食たべます／たくさん食たべます）

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    少しだけ食べます

    少すこしだけ食たべます — あまり does not necessarily mean zero; あまり食たべません suggests eating only a little. In casual speech 全然ぜんぜん can also appear with positive expressions, but practise the negative pattern here.

Use it today

Write two new Japanese sentences using this pattern, then explain your choices and compare them with the examples.