あまり～ない

あまり with a negative means "not very" or "not much". It goes before the verb or adjective, and the verb or adjective must be in the negative form: あまりたべない食べない, あまりさむくない寒くない.

In speech, あまり is often pronounced あんまり. It means the same and sounds more casual.

The negative is required

English "not very" puts the "not" on "very". In Japanese the negative stays on the verb or adjective, and あまり in front of a positive form does not mean "not much".

• × あまり食べます → あまり食べません
• × あまり好きです → あまり好きじゃないです

あまり or 全然

あまり～ない leaves some room: "not much", "not really". ぜんぜん全然～ない shuts it: "not at all".