No time, no money
Collocations, Stage 1chunk 10 of 22Time, money & plans
Being busy or broke in one frame: no time, no free time, no money, not enough money, nothing to spare.
- jikan ga naihave no time
- hima ga naihave no free time
- okane ga naihave no money, be broke
- okane ga tarinaibe short of money
- yoyuu ga naihave nothing to spare
Mix-ups All take ga nai, never o mottenai. jikan nai is no time now or for this, hima nai is no free time at all; okane nai is broke, okane tarinai is short for one thing; yoyuu nai covers money, time or headspace and alone means 'I'm swamped'.
jikan ga nai
polite jikan ga arimasenhave no time
時間がない じかんがない 時間がありません
adjectivenai ないthere isn't; not have (negative of aru)typical 23% of jikan
trap Not jikan o mottenai: time exists or doesn't, so it's jikan ga nai.
Said when you're in a hurry (mou jikan nai! = we're out of time) and as an excuse (ima jikan nai n da). Casual speech often drops ga. The past jikan nakatta and the -te form jikan nakute (no time, so...) are also common.
gomen, ima chotto jikan nai n da.
Sorry, I don't really have time right now.
ごめん、今ちょっと時間ないんだ。
sumimasen, ima chotto jikan ga nai n desu.
Sorry, I don't really have time right now.
すみません、今ちょっと時間がないんです。
jikan aru? (got a minute?) is the question it answers; jikan ga aku (aiteru) is having a free slot. hima ga nai is the wider 'no free time these days', while jikan nai is about now or this one thing. 'No time to cook' puts the verb first: ryouri suru jikan ga nai.
Same adjective: yasumi (days off)Learn alongside: hima ga nai, okane ga nai, okane ga tarinai, yoyuu ga naiMain list: jikan (Stage 4), aru (Stage 1), motsu (Stage 1), isogashii (Stage 3)
hima ga nai
polite hima ga arimasenhave no free time
暇がない ひまがない 暇がありません
adjectivenai ないthere isn't; not have (negative of aru)typical 78% of hima
Said about being too busy, with a verb in front naming what you have no time for: ...teru hima wa nai is the commonest shape (nonbiri shiteru hima wa nai), and a plain verb usually takes mo (asobu hima mo nai, neru hima mo nai). As a brush-off it's sonna hima (wa) nai (I've got no time for that); plain ga is heard less than wa.
saikin isogashikute, asobu hima mo nai.
I've been so busy lately I don't even have time to go out.
最近忙しくて、遊ぶ暇もない。
saikin isogashikute, asobu hima mo nai n desu.
I've been so busy lately I don't even have time to go out.
最近忙しくて、遊ぶ暇もないんです。
hima is also an adjective: hima? (are you free?), hima da naa (I'm bored). Unlike jikan ga nai, it never means you're running late: in a hurry it's mou jikan nai!, not mou hima nai!
Same adjective: yasumi (days off: yasumi mo nai)Learn alongside: jikan ga nai, okane ga nai, okane ga tarinai, yoyuu ga naiMain list: hima (Stage 3), isogashii (Stage 3), aru (Stage 1), jikan (Stage 4)
okane ga nai
polite okane ga arimasenhave no money, be broke
お金がない おかねがない お金がありません
adjectivenai ないthere isn't; not have (negative of aru)typical 9% of okane
trap okane mottenai is natural too, but it usually means no cash on you right now (ima okane mottenai), and about someone else, okane motteru means they're well-off. 'I'm broke' is plain okane nai, which can also mean no cash on you.
The everyday 'I'm broke', usually okane nai in casual speech, often with ima or kongetsu. As a reason it's okane nai kara... (I'm broke, so...).
kongetsu, mou okane nai.
I'm already broke this month.
今月、もうお金ない。
kongetsu wa mou okane ga nai n desu.
I'm already broke this month.
今月はもうお金がないんです。
kane nai, without o-, is blunter and mostly men's speech. For one purchase it's okane tarinai (not enough money).
Same adjective: genkin (cash: genkin nai = no cash on me), chokin (savings)Learn alongside: jikan ga nai, hima ga nai, okane ga tarinai, yoyuu ga naiMain list: aru (Stage 1), motsu (Stage 1), tariru (Stage 4)
okane ga tarinai
polite okane ga tarimasenbe short of money
お金が足りない おかねがたりない お金が足りません
adjectivetarinai 足りないnot be enough (negative of tariru, be enough)
trap Not okane ga sukunai, which is having little money in general. Being short for something is tarinai (not enough): gohyaku en tarinai.
Said at the till or when you're short for something: are, gohyaku en tarinai (oh, I'm 500 yen short). The amount often takes the place of okane. As a general state, okane tarinai means money's tight.
gomen, okane tarinai kara kashite.
Sorry, I'm short. Can you lend me some?
ごめん、お金足りないから貸して。
sumimasen, okane ga tarinai node kashite moraemasen ka?
Sorry, I'm short. Could you lend me some?
すみません、お金が足りないので貸してもらえませんか？
okane nai is being broke; tarinai is being short for something. Enough is tariru: kore de tariru? (will this cover it?).
Same adjective: jikan (time), hitode (hands, staff), ninzuu (headcount: ninzuu tarinai = we're a person short)Learn alongside: jikan ga nai, hima ga nai, okane ga nai, yoyuu ga naiMain list: tariru (Stage 4), kasu (Stage 2), aru (Stage 1)
yoyuu ga nai
polite yoyuu ga arimasenhave nothing to spare
余裕がない よゆうがない 余裕がありません
adjectivenai ないthere isn't; not have (negative of aru)typical 64% of yoyuu
trap Japanese has no verb for 'afford'. For one item it's kaenai (takakute kaenai = I can't afford it). For having no money to spare in general it's okane no yoyuu ga nai (or just okane nai), and yoyuu nai alone means 'I'm swamped'.
Says you have no spare money, time or energy. A noun before it says which: okane no yoyuu, jikan no yoyuu. Plain ima yoyuu nai means 'I'm swamped right now'.
ima okane no yoyuu nai n da
Money's a bit tight right now.
今お金の余裕ないんだ
ima okane no yoyuu ga nai n desu
Money's a bit tight right now.
今お金の余裕がないんです
jikan ni yoyuu ga aru = there's still plenty of time. In slang, yoyuu means 'easy': yoyuu desho / yoyuu da yo = piece of cake.
Same adjective: okane (money: okane no yoyuu ga nai), jikan (time: jikan no yoyuu ga nai), kokoro (headspace: kokoro no yoyuu ga nai = too stressed to deal with anything)Learn alongside: jikan ga nai, hima ga nai, okane ga nai, okane ga tarinaiMain list: aru (Stage 1), tariru (Stage 4), isogashii (Stage 3), kau (Stage 3)