全然～ない【ぜんぜん～ない】

The adverb ぜんぜん全然 (ぜんぜん) is used together with a negative form of a verb or adjective to express "not at all" or "not in the least." It emphasizes the completeness of the negation – that something is entirely absent or untrue.

With verbs

With い-adjectives

With な-adjectives

Polite form

ぜんぜん全然 works naturally with polite negative forms as well.

Common mistake: 全然 without a negative

Traditionally, ぜんぜん全然 is paired with a negative form. However, in modern casual speech, many native speakers use ぜんぜん全然 with positive expressions to mean "totally" or "completely" – for example,

. While this usage is extremely common in everyday conversation, it is considered non-standard by some, and learners should be aware that the standard usage pairs ぜんぜん全然 with a negative.

Related expressions

• まったく～ない has a very similar meaning ("not at all") but sounds slightly more formal or emphatic.
• あまり～ない means "not very" or "not much" – a weaker degree of negation compared to ぜんぜん全然.
  あまりわからない分からない。

  I don't really understand.
  vs.
  ぜんぜん全然わからない分からない。

  I don't understand at all.