JLPT N2ComparisonUpdated

〜っこない vs 〜ものか kkonai · mono ka

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.

References

Sources and usage notes

Shogakukan Digital Daijisen: っこない — Defines っこない on verb stems as equivalent to はずがない or わけがない.

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