ものか (and its casual spoken form もんか) is a rhetorical expression used to emphatically deny something or express strong refusal. It conveys the speaker's firm determination that something will absolutely not happen, or their strong rejection of an idea. It is equivalent to English expressions like "as if I would…!", "no way!", or "there's no way that…!"
Strong refusal / determination not to do something
When attached to a verb, ものか expresses the speaker's strong resolve that they will never do something.
、。
As if I'd ever go to that shop again!
。
There's no way I'll lose to that guy!
Rhetorical denial
ものか can also be used to strongly deny that something is the case, often in response to someone else's statement or assumption.
。
As if this kind of problem is hard!
、。
How would I know something like that!
Usage notes
- ものか is the standard form; もんか is a more casual, spoken contraction.
- In polite speech, ものですか or もんですか may be used, though the expression is inherently emphatic and emotional, so it appears most often in casual contexts.
- Women may sometimes use ものですか or the softer variant もんですか instead of the blunt ものか / もんか.
- The expression carries strong emotion – frustration, defiance, or indignation – so it is not used in neutral or objective statements.
- ものか attaches to the plain (dictionary/ない) form of verbs and to い-adjectives directly. For な-adjectives, use きごう+ .
。
Who would believe such a thing!
Lingaku