〜くはない vs 〜くない in adjective negations


As I spend more time in Japan, I pick up habits that I'm not sure are good or
bad. My question here is about nuance / occasion of usage.

In formal contexts, how does the impression differ between these two
locutions:

> 今の仕事は悪くはないです。
>
> 今の仕事は悪くないです。

I get that ~くない is the standard taught to 初級 students of Japanese and that
くはない is something that appears later.

I'll throw in my guess: for me, 悪くはない sounds like making a judgment more so
than 悪くない, but I'm not at all sure if that's right or if there's anything else
it throws in. I also tend to add です for politeness at the end when using 辞書形
constructions in polite contexts so as written above both get the です thrown
after.

In other words, I'm asking what sort of impression difference putting the は
adds. Obviously you can say 悪くはありません as well. But mainly, I'm trying to
understand how the two expressions might differ in nuance.




I would have no choice but to say that there is a difference. Little particles
do have that kind of power and influence over much bigger words than
themselves.

You would sound like you are a little more satisfied with your job if you said
「[今]{いま}の[仕事]{しごと}は[悪]{わる}くないです。」 than when you said 「今の仕事は悪く **は** ないです。」.

This is a prime example of the contrastive は. What and where is the contrast
in the sentence 「今の仕事は悪く **は** ないです。」, then? It is left unsaid.

When a Japanese-speaker hears or reads a sentence like that using は, he will
instinctively "know" that a few words were implied but not said. Those words
would be something like 「でも、（[特]{とく}に）[良]{よ}く **も** ないです。」. Particles 「は」 and
「も」 are often used in a pair like that.

「このピザはまずくないです。」 means the pizza is at least average in taste. It may well be a
little better than average.

「このピザはまずく **は** ないです。」 means the pizza is average at best.




I would have no choice but to say that there is a difference. Little particles
do have that kind of power and influence over much bigger words than
themselves.

You would sound like you are a little more satisfied with your job if you said
「[今]{いま}の[仕事]{しごと}は[悪]{わる}くないです。」 than when you said 「今の仕事は悪く **は** ないです。」.

This is a prime example of the contrastive は. What and where is the contrast
in the sentence 「今の仕事は悪く **は** ないです。」, then? It is left unsaid.

When a Japanese-speaker hears or reads a sentence like that using は, he will
instinctively "know" that a few words were implied but not said. Those words
would be something like 「でも、（[特]{とく}に）[良]{よ}く **も** ないです。」. Particles 「は」 and
「も」 are often used in a pair like that.

「このピザはまずくないです。」 means the pizza is at least average in taste. It may well be a
little better than average.

「このピザはまずく **は** ないです。」 means the pizza is average at best.

