ものかas if I would; no way
An emphatic "as if!". It has the shape of a question and means a strong no: "I never will" about what you might do, "that can't be" about what someone claims. In speech it is often もんか.
As if I'd ever go to that place again.
As if he would betray his friends. He cares about them more than anyone.
There's no way I'm going to lose.
How to form it
Verb dictionary form／い-adjective + ものか
行くものか, できるものか, おもしろいものか. A な-adjective or a noun takes な: 簡単なものか, 偶然なものか. Spoken もんか; polite ものですか, もんですか.
- How it sounds
- Usually heated: angry, defiant or stung. The voice falls at the end, and nobody is expected to answer.
- Who says it
- Anyone, mostly to themselves or to people they can be blunt with. In dramas and novels ものか and もんか are more often a man's lines, ものですか and もんですか a woman's. The polite shape is no gentler.
- Often with
- あんな, そんな, なんか, 二度と, 絶対に, 誰が.
- Where you'll meet it
- Arguments, and the dialogue in dramas, manga and novels. In everyday talk, mostly in a few set phrases.
A refusal: I never will
I am not going to give up my dream over a setback like this.
Want to take me on again?
As if I'd play someone like you. I haven't forgotten how you cheated last time.
A denial: that can't be
How could anyone accept an explanation like this?
As if I would fiddle the figures. Please check the records.
Things people say
知るもんかI couldn't care less; how should I know
I'm done with him. I couldn't care less.
構うもんかwho cares
So what if they laugh at me. Who cares.
Close neighbours
わけがないN3
A judgment that it cannot be so: given what you know, there's no way. ものか gives no reason, only feeling, and it can refuse as well as deny.
It's this cheap, so there's no way it's the real thing.
っこないN3
A casual "no way" on a verb's ます-stem, about what can be done or how things will turn out. It predicts, where ものか can refuse.
There's no way I can do a problem like that.
After a negative, ものか is usually not a denial but a wish: "isn't there some way…?"
This heat: can't something be done about it?
Check yourself
1What is she saying?
あんな
Choose an answer to see why.
2Which one is right?
A
Choose an answer to see why.
More detail
After a question word and a た-form, ものか is something else again: wondering what to do.
Now, what am I to do?
More sentences
As if he would deliberately delete a client's data. We've worked together for ten years.
I will never give in to your threats.
Do you really think I would abandon my research over one criticism?