ようがない・
"There is no way to": you would do it, but the means are missing. No address, no parts, no record. ようもない says it more strongly.
I don't know their address or their phone number, so I have no way of getting in touch.
With no manual and no model number, there is no way to repair this machine.
After a verb
Verb ます-stem + ようがない／ようもない
直します → 直しようがない, 調べます → 調べようがない. Polite: ようがありません.
With a する-verb
Noun + の + しようがない
連絡のしようがない, 修理のしようがない. 確認しようがない, with no の, is said too.
- What is missing
- The means, not the will or the skill.
- Tone
- Matter-of-fact, often resigned.
- Where you'll meet it
- Conversation and writing alike.
In use
Now that the evidence has been lost, there is no way to determine the cause of the accident.
As long as the person says nothing, we have no way of knowing their true intentions.
The original was destroyed in a fire, so there is simply no way to check whether the signature is genuine.
ようもない: the stronger form.
This よう is "way", not "let's"
よう here means a way of doing something. It isn't the よう of "let's", so a godan verb (う-verb) keeps its ます-stem: 探しようがない, never 探そうがない.
どうしようもない and しょうがない
どうしようもない is the set phrase: nothing can be done. And the everyday しょうがない, "it can't be helped", is しようがない worn short.
It's no use regretting it now.
The trains have stopped, so it can't be helped.
Close neighbours
わけがないN3
English says "there's no way" here too, but this one rules an idea out as untrue. ようがない says the means are missing.
There is no way he would believe a story like that.
得ないN2
The "cannot" of formal writing: not possible in principle.
These factors alone cannot account for this change.
Check yourself
1Which one is right?
名前も
Choose an answer to see why.
2What does this mean?
彼には
Choose an answer to see why.
More detail
It isn't always bad news. 文句のつけようがない, "nothing to find fault with", is high praise.
Today's performance was flawless.
More sentences
Replacement parts for this machine are no longer available, so there is no way to repair it.
The footage is blurry, so there is no way to make out the car's license plate.
No contact information is listed anywhere, so there is no way to make an inquiry.
All the records have been erased, so there is no way to find out who made the change.
Without a map or an address, there is simply no way to find the shop.