まいwill not; probably not
A written, old-fashioned negative with two jobs. About what you yourself will do, it is a firm "I will not". About anything else it is "probably not", very often as あるまい.
I will not
I made up my mind never to make the same mistake again.
probably not
This rain probably won't stop before tonight.
might it not be
Might this system actually be harder to use for the very people who need support most?
How to form it
Verb dictionary form + まい
It is already negative, so it never follows ない: 行くまい, not 行かないまい. Ichidan verbs (る-verbs), する and 来る have shorter forms as well.
| Verb | With まい |
|---|---|
| Godan verbs (う-verbs) | 行くまい, 言うまい: the dictionary form only |
| Ichidan verbs | 食べまい or 食べる |
| する | する |
| 来る | 来る |
| ある, だ | ある |
With ichidan verbs the short form is the one you will mostly see: 負けまい, 忘れまい, 見せまい. With する, するまい and すまい are both common.
Whose action is it?
I will not come back here again.
Your own action, and yours to decide: a vow.
He probably won't come back here again.
Someone else's. You can only guess.
I will not
A decision made with feeling, and mostly kept to yourself. It usually sits inside と思う, と決める or と誓う, and there it can be another person's vow too.
I told myself I would never drink again.
He had made up his mind not to rely on anyone any more.
まいとする: trying not to
Trying not to let her tears show, she turned her eyes to the window.
Before an action, まいと by itself is "so as not to".
I ran to the station so as not to miss the last train.
Probably not
The written ないだろう, for whatever is not yours to decide: other people, things, the weather.
A delay of a few days is unlikely to change the final result.
A noise this small is unlikely to wake the baby.
Surely he isn't serious.
What people say instead
| In a novel | In ordinary Japanese |
|---|---|
| もう行くまい | もう |
| 雨はやむまい | やまないだろう (written), やまないと |
Said aloud at the end of a sentence, まい sounds like a line from a period drama.
ではあるまいか: might it not be
With か on the end the meaning turns around: the writer thinks it is so, and puts it as a question. It is the literary のではないだろうか, and follows a plain form with の, or a noun or な-adjective directly.
This can hardly be a coincidence.
You think it isn't.
Might this not be a coincidence?
You think it is.
Close neighbours
Still open: 行こうか行くまいか, "shall I go or not?", with a verb of wavering such as 迷う after it.
I still can't decide whether to keep waiting or not.
With と or が in place of か, nobody is wavering: "whether or not", it makes no difference.
Whether he comes or not, we will start the meeting at ten.
"It's not as if…", before a rebuke or advice. The まい you are most likely to hear in conversation.
You're not a child. Do that much yourself.
Check yourself
1Which one is "I will not"?
Choose an answer to see why.
2Which one is right?
二度とうそは
Choose an answer to see why.
3What does the writer think?
本当の
Choose an answer to see why.
More sentences
From now on I will keep out of this matter.
I swore that, whatever happened, I would not let this secret out.
I told myself that I would not run away from my responsibility.
In this fog, the summit probably can't be seen.
Trust, once lost, is unlikely to come back easily.
Is that assessment not unfair, in looking only at results?
Might the reader's unease be exactly the effect the author intended?