役やくに立たたない

役に立たない · i-adjective

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	役やくに立たたない	役やくに立たたなくない
Polite	役やくに立たたないです	役やくに立たたなくないですalso 役やくに立たたなくありません
Past polite	役やくに立たたなかったです	役やくに立たたなくなかったですalso 役やくに立たたなくありませんでした
Past	役やくに立たたなかった	役やくに立たたなくなかった
Te-form	役やくに立たたなくて	役やくに立たたなくなくて
Adverbial	役やくに立たたなく
Conditional	役やくに立たたなければ	役やくに立たたなくなければ
Tara conditional	役やくに立たたなかったら	役やくに立たたなくなかったら

Meanings

expression, i-adjective

useless; of no use; unhelpful

Describes something that does not serve a practical purpose or fails to be helpful. Often used in negative evaluations of objects, advice, or actions.

Kanji

役duty, war, campaign
立stand up, rise, set up
無nothingness, none, ain't

Related words

無む駄だN4
無駄 emphasizes wastefulness or futility of effort, whereas 役に立たない simply states that something fails to serve any practical purpose.
無む益えきN1
無益 is a more formal, written word meaning 'of no benefit', while 役に立たない is the common everyday phrase for 'useless'.
あってない
役に立たない is a plain way to say 'useless', whereas あって無い is a more idiomatic expression implying something exists but doesn't count as sufficient or functional.

Opposites

役やくに立たつN5
役に立つ means something is useful or helpful, while 役に立たない is its negation meaning useless or unhelpful.

Written forms

役やくに立たたない
Standard kanji spelling; the most frequent written form.
役やくにたたない
Kana-mixed variant; less common but still encountered.
やくに立たたない
Partial kana spelling; rarely used.
役やくに立たた無ない
Ateji-like variant using 無い for ない; very uncommon.

Etymology

Phrase consisting of 役 (role, use) + に (particle) + 立たない (negative form of 立つ 'to stand', here meaning 'to be of use'). The expression literally means 'does not stand to a role', i.e., 'useless'.