っこない — No Way That'll Happen
A colloquial way to strongly deny possibility — 'there's no way' or 'definitely won't/can't'. It expresses the speaker's firm conviction that something is impossible, and is used only in casual speech.
Structure
[Verb ます-stem] + っこない
Examples
そんな難しい問題、私に分かりっこない。
Sonna muzukashii mondai, watashi ni wakarikkonai.
There's no way I could understand such a hard problem.
Verb ます-stem 分かり + っこない firmly denies any possibility of understanding.
宝くじなんて、当たりっこないよ。
Takarakuji nante, atarikkonai yo.
There's no way you'll win the lottery.
ます-stem 当たり + っこない expresses strong conviction it won't happen.
今から走っても、間に合いっこない。
Ima kara hashitte mo, maniaikkonai.
Even if we run now, there's no way we'll make it.
ます-stem 間に合い + っこない denies the possibility of making it in time.
• Attaches to the ます-stem, e.g. 分かる → 分かりっこない. • Register: casual/spoken only; never in formal writing. • Equivalent in meaning to the more neutral 〜わけがない / 〜はずがない.
Commonly confused with
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones っこない is tested against.
vs わけがない
わけがない carries the same 'no way' meaning but is neutral and usable in writing, while っこない is distinctly colloquial and emotive.
vs ないだろう
ないだろう is a soft 'probably won't', whereas っこない is a firm, categorical 'absolutely won't'.
More modal expressions
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