Mimi Sensei Oshiete! – Vol.2 –
ARC teacher Mimi Sensei will answer your questions regarding Japanese language.
Ａ：It is true, they are very common words. In sentences like “Zettai Nihon ni ryūgaku suru” or “Kanarazu shiken ni gōkaku suru”, zettai and kanarazu are both used to express feelings of strong possibility, certainty with emphasis.
In English you can translate them with “without a doubt”, or “definitely”.
But they have one difference. Zettai ni can be used in both affirmative and negative sentences, while kanarazu is used only in affirmative sentences.
For instance, a person following a diet might use both “zettai ni 5 kiro wo yaseru” and “zettai ni amai mono wo tabenai”, but cannot say “kanarazu amai mono wo tabenai”, because it would sound unnatural. That’s because zettai means “no matter what”, and after it can have both the affirmative “suru” and negative “～nai”, while kanarazu means more “without a doubt ~will do”.
Not only in the JLPT, these words will appear also in anime and TV shows, so zettai ni don’t forget them!
