っこない

The grammar pattern っこない expresses strong conviction that something is absolutely impossible or that there is no chance of something happening. It conveys a stronger sense of impossibility than simply using ない alone, adding an emphatic, often emotional tone. It is used in casual conversation.

Formation

っこない attaches to the masu-stem (連用形) of a verb. Remove ます and add っこない.

• できる → でき → できっこない (there's no way I can do it)
• わかる分かる → 分かり → 分かりっこない (there's no way to understand)
• かつ勝つ → 勝ち → 勝ちっこない (there's no chance of winning)
• ある → あり → ありっこない (there's absolutely no way)

Nuance

っこない is stronger and more emotional than 〜～はずがない or 〜～わけがない. It often reflects the speaker's personal frustration, resignation, or strong opinion. Because of its casual and emphatic tone, it is mostly used in informal speech.

Conjugation

Since っこない ends in ない, it conjugates like an い-adjective:

• Past: っこなかった
• Polite: っこありません (rare; the pattern itself is inherently casual)