The Polite Way to Say 'Is Not'
Last lesson, we learned how to say what something IS using the pattern A は B です. Today, we flip that around. We're going to learn how to say what something is NOT.
Just like English has 'is' and 'is not', Japanese has です and its negative partner. But Japanese gives us a few options depending on how polite or casual you want to sound. Don't worry, they all mean the same thing! We'll start with the safest, most polite form first.
The Polite Negative: ではありません
When you want to say 'is not' politely, simply swap です for ではありません. Everything else in the sentence stays exactly the same.
ではありません is your safe, all-purpose choice. Use it when you're talking with strangers, at work, or in any situation where you'd want to be polite. If you're ever unsure which negative form to reach for, this is the one.
Just like with the topic marker は, the は in ではありません is still pronounced 'wa', not 'ha'. So you say 'de WA arimasen'.