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N2

っこない

There is no chance of, There is no way of, Impossible

どんなに鍛きたえてもあの人ひとだけには勝かてっこないよ。

No matter how much I train, there's no chance that I can beat him.

Explanation

「っこない」 is spoken and means 'there's no way'; the speaker is very sure, sometimes sarcastic. It attaches to the verb stem: 「そんな難しい試験、一日で合格できっこない」 (There's no way you can pass such a hard exam in one day), 「あいつに私の気持ちなんかわかりっこない」 (He can't possibly understand how I feel). Mostly between friends.

Mixed up with

「っこない」: casual speech only, strong emotion; not for official or business writing, and not to elders.

「わけがない」: denies on logical grounds; fine in speech and writing.

「はずがない」: denies based on what you would normally expect.

Examples

  1. あんなデカい家いえ、どんなに貯金ちょきんしても買かえっこないよ。

    I will not be able to buy a house that big, no matter how much I save.

  2. 練習れんしゅうをたくさんしなくては、楽器がっきの演奏えんそうなんかできっこない。

    If you do not practice a lot, there is no way you will be able to do a musical performance.

  3. 今いまのスキルじゃ、あの指輪ゆびわは壊こわせっこないよ。

    With the skills you have now, there's no way you can destroy that ring.

Tested 2 times in past papers

N1 · Jul 2017, Q35N2 · Jul 2016, Q40