っこない says something has no chance of happening; ものか emphatically rejects a proposition or action. できっこない is a casual claim of impossibility. 二度と行くものか is a forceful refusal, while 負けるものか rejects the prospect of losing. ものか can deny someone else’s claim too, so it is broader than a vow about oneself.
also written kkonai / monoka / もんか / っこありません
っこない — there is no chance of it happening · ものか — I refuse; as if I would
Sentences
6 sentences, word by word
っこない · nobody could
plain
、。
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こんな
こんな [0]
this kind of
demonstrative · pointing at the problem in front of you
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問題
もんだい [0]
problem
noun · a problem or a question, depending on context
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分かりっこない
わかりっこない
there's no working it out
ます-stem of 分かる + っこない · an assessment, not a refusal
っこないN2there's no chance
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There's no way anyone can solve a problem like this.
ものか · a vow
plain
!
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二度と
にどと
never again
adverb · 二度 + と, and it needs a negative or a refusal to land
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行く
いく [0]
go
dictionary form of 行く · ものか takes the plain form
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ものか
ものか
as if I would
expression · a rhetorical question that works as a refusal
ものかN2I refuse · as if I would
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I'm never going there again.
The same verb, two jobs
plain
。。
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負けっこない
まけっこない
we can't lose
ます-stem of 負ける + っこない · assessing the odds
っこないN2there's no chance
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負ける
まける [0]
lose
dictionary form · ものか needs the plain form in front of it
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ものか
ものか
I refuse to
expression · the will is the speaker's, while っこない denies likelihood instead
ものかN2I refuse
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We can't lose. — I refuse to lose.
っこない · about a plan
plain
。
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一人
ひとり [2]
alone
noun · read ひとり, irregularly; 一人で is 'on my own'
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で
で
in; at — where it happens
particle · where the action happens, or the manner it happens in
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終わりっこない
おわりっこない
there's no finishing it
ます-stem of 終わる + っこない · intransitive, so it ends by itself
っこないN2there's no chance
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よ
よ
(telling you)
particle · offering it as information the listener lacks
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There's no way I'll finish this on my own.
もんか · the spoken contraction
plain
。
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彼
かれ [1]
he
pronoun · the person being refused
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に
に
to; at; into
particle · a point something reaches — a place, a time, a person, or a state
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言う
いう [0]
tell
dictionary form of 言う · read いう, pronounced ゆう
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もんか
もんか
as if I would
contraction of ものか · rougher, and the one you actually hear
もんかN2as if I would
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As if I'd tell him.
The polite exit
polite
。
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そんな
そんな
that kind of
demonstrative · pointing at what was just claimed
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こと
こと
the act of; the fact of
noun · turns the verb in front into a noun
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ある
ある
there is
dictionary form of ある · existence, which わけ then denies
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わけがありません
わけがありません
there's no way
expression · the neutral register both casual patterns lack
わけがないN3there's no way
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There's no way that's true.
Structure
What each one attaches to
分かり / でき / 勝て+っこない
分かりっこない. The stem, not the dictionary form — 分かるっこない is wrong.
行く / 負ける+ものか
二度と行くものか. Dictionary form, and the sentence is a question only in shape.
plain form+もんか
負けるもんか. The spoken contraction — same meaning, rougher edge.
〜っこありません/〜わけがありません
Both patterns are casual. Upward, わけがない or はずがない do the work without the heat.
Meaning
Impossibility versus refusal
っこない is about the world.こんな問題、分かりっこない — nobody could work this out. The speaker is not refusing anything; they are reporting that the thing cannot happen.
ものか strongly rejects a proposition.二度と行くものか is a forceful vow never to go again. The construction can also reject someone else’s claim; it is not restricted to the speaker’s own future action.
That is why the same verb splits.負けっこない says we cannot lose — an assessment. 負けるものか says I refuse to lose — a declaration. English reaches for "no way" in both, and Japanese does not.
Both are casual, and ものか is the sharper of the two. It carries visible emotion — defiance, indignation, wounded pride. Both are generally informal, though quoted speech and literary dialogue can use them; わけがない is the neutral register for the same denial.
Watch out
Where these two go wrong
Attaching っこない to the dictionary form
It takes the ます-stem: 分かりっこない, never 分かるっこない.
Reading ものか as a real question
The か is rhetorical. 行くものか is not asking whether you will go — it is announcing that you will not.
Using either one upward
Both are casual and both carry heat. To a manager or a client, わけがありません or 難しいと思います says the same thing without the edge.
Putting ものか on someone else's action
ものか expresses the speaker’s strong rejection. 彼が行くものか denies that he will go; it does not report his refusal.
Also asked
Questions people ask about っこない and ものか
What's the actual difference?
っこない denies that something can happen — an assessment of the world. ものか emphatically denies a proposition or rejects an action; a refusal is one common use.
Is ものか always about the speaker?
No. It expresses the speaker’s emphatic rejection, which can concern another person’s action too. Pointed at a third party it becomes your denial of their action rather than their refusal — 彼が知っているものか, as if he'd know.
ものか or もんか?
Same meaning. もんか is the spoken contraction and is what you will hear; ものか looks slightly more deliberate in writing, though neither is formal.
What should I use at work?
Neither. わけがありません and はずがありません carry the same denial in a register that will not startle anyone.