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ぜんぜん

at all — used with a negative

By Nihongo PathUpdated

Examples

  1. お酒はぜんぜん飲みません。

    おさけはぜんぜんのみません。

    I don't drink alcohol at all.

  2. その話はぜんぜん知りませんでした。

    そのはなしはぜんぜんしりませんでした。

    I had no idea about that at all.

  3. 一年勉強しましたが、ぜんぜん上手になりません。

    いちねんべんきょうしましたが、ぜんぜんじょうずになりません。

    I've studied for a year, but I'm not getting any better.

  4. 「待たせてごめん。」「ぜんぜん大丈夫だよ。」

    「またせてごめん。」「ぜんぜんだいじょうぶだよ。」

    "Sorry to keep you waiting." "No problem at all."

Common patterns

ぜんぜん分からない
don't understand at all
ぜんぜん違う
completely different
ぜんぜんない
there is none at all

Memory tip

In standard written Japanese ぜんぜん has to be answered by a negative later in the sentence (ぜんぜん食べない). In casual speech it is also used with a positive to mean "totally fine, no problem" — fine among friends, but avoid it in exams and writing. Compare あまり, which is the weaker "not very".

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What does ぜんぜん mean?