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Originally Posted by SceptileMaster
I don't mean to question anything here as this is just a continuation thing. But is there differences in it's uses in different dialect thing because your from Toukyou?
I always trust your judgement on speaking Japanese it's just that I've seen another native speaker who writes as a language tutor for Japanese who said that じゃありません is common in casual conversation. Is it possible that it is more common in other parts of the country. I have also seen ではない used, which is obviously the other way around. Does ではない sound natural?
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I don't feel too confident in answering your first question regarding the dialects. I've lived in two cities (Nagoya and Tokyo, over 20 years in each
) and I have visited 44 of the 47 prefectures. Still, I can't say that I've noticed a major regional difference in the use of ではありません/じゃありません.
The more I think about this, the more I remember when I was learning English. I was strictly taught to say "he doesn't", "it doesn't", "John doesn't". When I was 19, I happened to visit America for the first time and heard someone say "he don't". I heard it on TV as well from a contestant on a gameshow. All this happened within two days of my arrival. I felt exactly how you must be feeling right now. "Have I been taught wrong back home?"
The answer would be mostly no, I'd have to say. I don't regret that I've been using "doesn't" with a third-person, singular subject. You won't regret that I kept yelling at you to use ではありません, even though I can't prove it right now.
I have no interest in telling how people should talk or write to their friends and families either in their own language or Japanese. But it would be extremely irresponsible of me if I told you that you could freely use じゃありません in business and other formal occasions. Yet this is internet. I shouldn't expect to have more influence on you than someone physically near you.
If a teacher from England told his Japanese students that it's up to them to choose between "he don't" and "he doesn't", he would be seeing the headmaster soon, wouldn't he?
These are my standards and guidelines when answering language questions on JF.
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Yes, ではない sounds natural.