違う vs ではありません

[lucagalbu]

Hi!
Let me see if I've understood the difference between ちがいます and ではありません.
To the question:
これはあなたのですか。
I can answer:
1) いいえ、これは私のではありません。
2) いいえ、私のではありません。
3) いいえ、ちがいます。
4) ちがいます。
5) いいえ、それはちがいます。(Not sure about this one)
is it right?

[KyleGoetz]

I swear this exact same thread has been made within the past six months...weird.

If you are asked これは〜さんのペンですか you can answer
いいえ、違います。
いいえ、そうではありません。

You don't need to use those 私s, これs, and それs in your answer—they make it sound non-native.

ではありません means "is not"
違う means "is different"

Even in English, both work:
Is this your pen?
No, it's not.
No, that one is [a] different [one than my pen]..

Personally, my go-to answer to this question would be 違います because it's the fastest to say. When talking with my friends, I probably equally use いいえ、そうじゃないっす and 違う.

[lucagalbu]

Originally Posted by KyleGoetz

I swear this exact same thread has been made within the past six months...weird.

Ehm.. you're right.. and I started that topic
I just wanted to be sure to have understood the difference between dewaarimasen and chigaimasu.

Thank you!

[KyleGoetz]

It sure would have been nice if you had just bumped that thread instead so I could have saved some of my own time.

You know I spent a long time looking for that post, and then I spent a long time typing up an answer explaining the differences, before deleting it all and just answering your question straightforwardly?

All that time was wasted, I guess. Thanks.