ぬ details
write + does not — the classical negative ending
kaka nu
does not — the classical negative ending
meaning: do not write
我々はいかなる圧力にも屈せぬ。
wareware wa ikanaru atsuryoku ni mo kusse nu.
We do not yield to pressure of any kind. neutral
思わぬところで昔の同僚に会った。
omowanu tokoro de mukashi no douryou ni atta.
I ran into a former colleague somewhere I never expected to. neutral
- contraction
Examples
does not — the literary negative, in place of ない at the end of a written or declamatory sentence
我々はいかなる圧力にも屈せぬ。
wareware wa ikanaru atsuryoku ni mo kussenu.
We do not yield to pressure of any kind. neutral
あいつのことなんか知らん。
aitsu no koto nanka shiran.
I don't know a thing about that guy. casual
〜ぬ before a noun — the attributive that survives in fixed modifiers and set business phrases
思わぬところで昔の同僚に会った。
omowanu tokoro de mukashi no douryou ni atta.
I ran into a former colleague somewhere I never expected to. neutral
変わらぬご愛顧を賜り、心より御礼申し上げます。
kawaranu go aiko o tamawari, kokoro yori orei moushiagemasu.
We thank you most sincerely for your unchanging patronage. formal
Formation
{V-zu-stem}ぬattaches to ず-stem
Variant notes
- ん — ぬ→ん in speech — 知らん、行かん. Blunt and masculine in Tokyo speech, the unmarked negative in Kansai and much of western Japan.
Notes
It has no productive past, so a ぬ sentence switches to 知らなかった the
moment it leaves the present.
Related patterns
Similar
One classical paradigm split by position — ず(に) hands the sentence on to a following clause (気づかずに帰った), ぬ closes it or modifies a noun (気づかぬふり); neither substitutes for the other in place.
Lookalikes
A final ん straight off the ず-stem is contracted ぬ and NEGATES (分からん, せん); the ん before です／だ is the nominaliser の and EXPLAINS (分かるんです) — the stem in front is the only thing that tells them apart.