はずがない — There's no way / Cannot possibly be
The negative counterpart of はずだ. Strongly denies a possibility based on logic, facts, or knowledge of someone's character.
Structure
[Plain form] + はずがない / はずはない
Examples
あんなに練習したのに、失敗するはずがない。
Anna ni renshū shita noni, shippai suru hazu ga nai.
After practicing that much, there's no way he'd fail.
Strong logical denial based on evidence
彼女が嘘をつくはずがない。
Kanojo ga uso o tsuku hazu ga nai.
There's no way she would lie.
Based on known character
こんなに安いはずがない。何かあるんじゃないか。
Konnani yasui hazu ga nai. Nanika aru n ja nai ka.
There's no way it's this cheap. Something must be up.
Logical impossibility
• Key Concept: はずがない expresses strong logical impossibility. • Detail: more confident than かもしれない (uncertainty). • Contrast: はずだ (should be) ↔ はずがない (cannot possibly be). • Similar: わけがない (no way, more colloquial), に違いない (must be, positive certainty).
Commonly confused with
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones はずがない is tested against.
vs はずだ (should be)
Same reasoning base, opposite polarity: はずだ = 'logically expected to be true'; はずがない = 'logically cannot be true.'
vs わけがない
わけがない is more colloquial/emotional ('no way!'), while はずがない frames the denial as a reasoned deduction. They overlap heavily but はずがない sounds slightly more logical.
vs ないはずだ
ないはずだ = 'it is expected NOT to happen' (negates the content). はずがない = 'there is no basis to expect it at all' (negates the expectation itself), which is a stronger denial.
More modal expressions
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