日本語道場

Nihongo Dojo — N3 → N2

Grammar

N2

~に相違ない

~ ni sōi nai

surely, undoubtedly (formal)

When to use it

Use ~に相違ない when you need to state a conclusion as virtually certain in stiff written Japanese — reports, legal documents, audit findings, investigative summaries, formal correspondence. It is the bookish twin of ~に違いない: identical in meaning but too heavy for ordinary speech, where it sounds theatrical or archaic. In business writing it signals that the writer is committing to an inference drawn from evidence, not merely guessing.

Formation

  • Verb: plain form (present, past, negative) + に相違ない — 起きたに相違ない / 知っているに相違ない
  • い-adjective: plain form + に相違ない — 厳しいに相違ない
  • な-adjective: drop な/だ + に相違ない — 不可能に相違ない (more formal: 不可能であるに相違ない)
  • Noun: bare noun + に相違ない — 誤記に相違ない (more formal: 誤記であるに相違ない)
  • Nominal/adjectival forms with である are preferred in the most formal written registers; also appears as ~に相違あるまい / ~に相違ありません.

Examples

  • The cause of the delivery delay is undoubtedly the lag in parts procurement.

  • This figure must surely have been confused with last fiscal year's tally.

  • Our competitors are undoubtedly preparing a similar proposal.

  • It is beyond doubt that the expenditure in question went unapproved.

  • The other party will surely press us for concessions on price.