はずがないhazu ga nai“there is no way that”

はずがない means “there’s no way that…” or “… can’t possibly be true.” It is a JLPT N4 pattern for rejecting an idea because it contradicts what you know: 彼が忘れるはずがない — “There’s no way he’d forget.”

It is the negative partner of はずだ (“should be, is expected to be”). はずだ says “based on what I know, this is probably so.” はずがない says “based on what I know, this cannot be so.”

はずがない is logic talking: “Given everything I know, that simply doesn’t add up.”

What does はずがない mean?

はず is a noun meaning roughly “expectation” or “what logically follows.” はずがない is literally “there is no expectation (that ~).” In practice it is a strong, confident denial:

• そんなこと、あるはずがない。 — That can’t happen.
• 子どもが一人で来るはずがない。 — A child wouldn’t possibly come here alone.

The speaker is not reporting facts. They are reasoning: they know something about the person or situation, and the idea in front of them conflicts with it. That is why はずがない often comes with a reason in the next sentence: 毎日練習しているから / あの人は真面目だから.

Good English equivalents are “there’s no way,” “can’t possibly,” “can’t be,” and, for past events, “can’t have.”

How to form はずがない

はずがない behaves like a noun (はず) followed by が ない, so it takes the same connections as any noun-modifying clause. Verbs and い-adjectives use the plain form; な-adjectives keep な; nouns take の.

The polite form is はずがありません. You will also hear はずはない, with は instead of が. It means the same thing but sounds slightly more emphatic and is very common in speech.

When is はずがない used?

• Defending someone you trust: 彼がうそをつくはずがない — “He’d never lie.”
• Rejecting a surprising claim: そんなに安いはずがない — “It can’t be that cheap.”
• Doubting what you see: a lost wallet, a wrong number, a result that makes no sense.
• Talking to yourself: おかしいな。ここにあるはずがないのに… — puzzled self-talk is a natural home for this pattern.

It is common in conversation and fiction, often with an emotional edge: surprise, disbelief, or loyalty. In polite speech, はずがありません sounds firm but not rude, so it is fine with colleagues and customers.

はずがない example sentences

Notice how often the sentence around はずがない supplies the evidence: “she comes every year,” “it’s always packed,” “I put it in my bag.” That evidence is what makes the denial logical rather than just stubborn.

Nuance of はずがない

はずがない expresses certainty that comes from reasoning, not from direct observation. If you actually see that the shop is closed, you say 閉まっている. You say 閉まっているはずがない when you have reasons to believe it is open and cannot accept what you are hearing.

Because of this, the pattern can sound emotional. Said about a friend, 彼がそんなことをするはずがない expresses trust. Said about a strange result, それはおかしい、そんなはずがない (“that can’t be right”) expresses shock. そんなはずはない on its own is a set phrase you will hear in dramas whenever a character refuses to believe bad news.

💡 Two negatives: 〜ないはずだ means “(it) shouldn’t be, I expect it isn’t,” a mild expectation. 〜はずがない means “it can’t possibly be,” a strong denial. 来ないはずだ ≈ “I don’t think he’s coming.” 来るはずがない ≈ “He can’t be coming.”

The double negative 〜ないはずがない is a strong positive: 知らないはずがない — “There’s no way he doesn’t know,” i.e. he definitely knows. This shows up in JLPT reading questions, where you need to flip it back into a simple statement.

はずがない vs はずだ

These two are halves of the same idea, but they point in opposite directions.

A helpful way to see it: はずだ is a prediction, はずがない is a rebuttal. If someone says “he forgot,” you answer with 忘れるはずがない. If someone asks “does he know?”, you answer with 知っているはずだ. For a casual, even blunter version of はずがない, look ahead to the N3 pattern わけがない.

Common mistakes with はずがない

Is はずがない on the JLPT?

A typical item gives a reason (毎日練習している) and asks what follows. The answer with はずがない will contradict a negative idea: 負けるはずがない, “there’s no way they’ll lose.”

Practice questions for はずがない

Learning path for はずがない

Related grammar to review next

• はずだ — the positive expectation that はずがない denies, with the same noun-style connections.
• かもしれない — “maybe,” the low-certainty guess that はずがない firmly shuts down.
• きっと — the adverb for strong positive certainty, the mirror image of はずがない.
• わけがない — the N3 near-synonym, more colloquial and more emotional.

Learn はずがない with Hane

Hane puts はずだ, はずがない, and かもしれない into the same review sessions, so you learn to hear how sure a speaker is. Practise N4 grammar in Hane.