The Common Japanese Phrases Wakaranai “わからない”

I Have No Idea!: The Common Japanese Phrases “わからない” : In life there are things we know and things we don’t. Some of us like to think we know it all, but others are more forthcoming and would rather express that their knowledge is limited in a particular area. There’s also times when we don’t understand something and would like information clarified. Today, we’re going to learn the common Japanese phrase わからない (wakaranai) and how to use it in a sentence in order to convey “I don’t know” or “I don’t understand.”

Where Does Wakaranaiわからない Come from?

“わからない” comes from the word 分かる (wakaru). It is a Japanese verb meaning “to know” or “to understand.” 

If you’re having a conversation with a Japanese person and they tell you information that you already know or understand, you can say, “分かる,” which means “I know” or “I understand.”

Many times Japanese people will say the word twice, “分かる、分かる.” However, this is a rather blunt way of speaking, so it is only reserved for close friends and family.

How to Conjugate 分かる

分かる will take on a different meaning depending on how you conjugate it. For example, if you conjugate it into the casual form, you can only use it with friends, family, those that are the same age or younger, and those that are the same rank or lower than you. If you conjugate it into the polite form, you can only use it with people you don’t know and people older or of higher rank. The meaning will also change depending on whether you use the positive or negative form, and likewise for the past, present, and future. 

One thing to note is that the tense of a verb is not as restrictive in Japanese as it is in English. For example, when the speaker wants to say “I know / understand,” it is common for them to use the past tense 分かった (wakatta) or even the present progressive 分かっている (wakatte iru, “I am knowing / understanding”).

The speaker has the option to choose which tense to use based on their preference. Another example would be after a long explanation, or after being instructed on how to do something. In this situation the Japanese will usually say, “分かりました” (“wakarimashita”) to indicate that they understood the explanation / instructions given to them.

How to Use Wakaranaiわからない

わからない is the negative form of 分かる. The negative form of this verb in particular is created by removing the last hiragana character る (ru) and replacing it with らない (ranai).

Let’s say you’re at a restaurant with your Japanese host family, and the father orders nattou, a Japanese food you’ve never heard of. Since your host father is likely older than you—and since you’re staying at his house—you would use the polite form of Wakaranai わからない, which is わかりません. He as well would probably speak to you in the polite form since he still doesn’t know you so well.

Host Father:
納豆は分かりますか？
Nattou wa wakarimasu ka?
Do you know nattou?

You:
分かりません。
Wakarimasen.
I don’t know it.

If you’re talking to your host brother or sister and they are the same age or younger than you, you can use the casual form.

Host sister (younger): 
仮面ライダーっていうアニメ分かる？
Kamen raidaa tte iu anime wakaru?
Do you know the anime “Kamen Rider?”

You:
わからない。 
Wakaranai.
I don’t know.

Let’s say that you are studying Japanese, and you don’t understand what a phrase means.

You:
「勿体無い」という表現わからない。どういう意味？
“Mottainai” to iu hyougen wakaranai. Dou iu imi?
I don’t understand the phrase “mottainai.” What does it mean?

Host brother:
有用な物は無駄にしてしまったりするのが惜しいという意味。
Yuuyou-na mono wa muda ni shite shimattari suru no ga oshii to iu imi.
It means that you shouldn't be wasteful of things that are still of good use.

There are a variety of different pronunciations for わからない. The first two below are very casual, spoken mostly by young people. The last three get progressively slangier and are said mostly by younger people with a bad attitude.

-わかんない
-Wakannai

-わからへん
-Wakarahen

-わかんねえ 
-Wakannee

-わからん
-Wakaran

Examples of how to use Wakaranai 分からない in Japanese

So guys we are now going to look at various examples of different situations where you can use分からない  to give you a better understanding of how you can actually use this phrase yourself. We would strongly suggest that you really pay close attention to these phrases and try to repeat them out loud as much as possible. Really be vivid with your imagination and try to put yourself into those situations as this will really help you retain and master the uses of these phrases better.

Another good thing to do would be to translate the English version of the sentence back to Japanese once you have memorised the order. Now let’s get started and have a look at some great examples of “Wakaranai”

So here is our first example, take some time to read it out loud and digest the patterns and then we will move on to an explanation.

僕には彼女の言うことが分からない。
Boku ni wa kanojo no iukoto ga wakaranai
I don’t understand what she is saying

So this is a really useful phrase that you can use at any level of Japanese really. Imagine you are talking with someone for the first time and perhaps they are talking a little fast. This is a good way to let the other person know that you don’t really understand what they are saying.

In a language journey this will happen so often and is definitely something that you should try and get used to if you can. You can of course remove the “kanojo” part and change that to a fitting word that describes who you don’t understand.  

Now lets move onto this next phrase:

使い方が分かりません
Tsukaikata ga wakarimasen
I don’t understand how to use it

Now imagine that you have just got home with the latest piece of tech from Akihabara and you are so excited to use it. You pull out the instructions to reveal a complicated set of hieroglyphics that even normal Japanese people could not understand. This is when you could use this phrase to indicate that you do not understand how to use something. Whether it is a new writing system, latest gadget or cooking ingredient, it can work across the board.

If you don’t understand the meaning of something in Japanese you can use this next phrase:

意味が分からない
Imi ga wakaranai
I don’t understand the meaning

It’s quite common that oftentimes you will not understand the meaning of Japanese words that you come across in everyday speech or reading. Perhaps you have come across an old proverb that is really confusing you. This is the perfect chance to use this phrase and invite someone to help you clearly understand the meaning.

理由は誰も分からない。
Riyuu wa daremo wakaranai
No one can tell the reason.

Here is a nice little phrase that you can use when you don’t understand the reason for something. If you want to explain that something is a mystery to someone you can use this phrase to let them know that no one understands the reason why it happens. 

You can also use this phrase to tell people that you don’t know why something happened. The reason will be forever shrouded in mystery. 

何が起こるか分からない
nani ga okoru ka wakaranai
I don’t know what will happen

In those situations where anything could happen this would be the perfect phrase to use to really voice your uncertainty. Lets now look at this next phrase so we can talk about the uncertainty of weather conditions.

明日雨が降るかどうかわからない。
Ashita ame ga furu ka dou ka wakawanai
I do not know if it will rain tomorrow.

This is a great phrase to use if you haven’t heard the weather forecast and are uncertain on how the weather will turn out tomorrow. You can change the weather in this sentence to any other weather condition to express your doubts on the certainty of that specific weather.

Now lets look at a final example to round of the list

その説明が分からない
Sono setsumei ga wakaranai
I don’t understand that explanation

If you are in a test situation or taking part in a class / training, this is a really useful phrase to know. You can use this phrase to let the instructor or teacher know that you are not quite getting the gist of the explanation and that you would like them to show you again in a different way

So those are the examples guys, another good tip that we would like to give you is to start using these phrases as much as possible. Talk to your plants, animals or even yourself with these phrases and you will be able to use them freely and much more fluently in conversation. Through practice and repetition, you will be able to build confidence, experience, and fluency. 

In Summary

Wakaranai わからない is a common phrase in Japanese that is used to convey “I don’t know” or “I don’t understand.” It comes from the word 分かる, which means the opposite—”to know” or “to understand.” The polite way of saying わからない is “わかりません” and is used with strangers and people who are older or of higher rank than you. わからない is casual and used with friends, family members, equals, and those that are younger or have lower rank than you.

Now that you have a great new phrase under your belt, it’s time to get out there and see how it works in the real world! The next time you don’t understand or know something, instead of saying it in English, try saying it in Japanese to your Japanese speaking partner! 

Wakaranai yo ! わからないよ！

Learn Japanese with BondLingo?

Recommend