Negative form of お腹が空きました


I understand that お腹が空きました means "I **am** hungry" since its literal
translation would be "My stomach has become empty". Meanwhile, お腹が空きます is
closer to "I get hungry" as in よくお腹がすきます. So far things are clear.

However I'm confused about negating the sentence to mean "I am not hungry".
The books says it's either (...)空いていません or 空きません. I'm fine with 空いていません, but
shouldn't 空きません be 空きませんでした instead? What's more confusing is お腹が空きませんでした
means "I **was** not hungry" while I thought it should be "I **am** not
hungry" since it negates お腹が空きました.

Could you please clarify my confusion?




  1. **お腹が空きます** = "I (always) get hungry" (habitual); "It makes me hungry; It's appetizing" (one-time) 

> 魚を見るとお腹が空きます。  
>  Seeing fish (always) makes me hungry.

  2. **お腹が空きません** = "I don't get hungry" (habitual); "It doesn't make me hungry; It's unappetizing" (one-time) 

> 魚を見てもお腹が空きません。  
>  Seeing fish never makes me hungry.

  3. **お腹が空いています** = "I am hungry (now)" ([teiru-form for resultant state](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/3122/5010))
  4. **お腹が空いていません** = "I am not hungry (now)"
  5. **お腹が空きました** = "I am hungry (now)" (past-form effectively describing the current state); "I got hungry (at that time)" (simple past-form)
  6. **お腹が空きませんでした** = "I didn't get hungry" (past) 

> 昨日は何も食べなかったのにお腹が空きませんでした。  
>  I ate nothing yeasterday, but I didn't get hungry.

  7. **お腹が空いていました** = "I was hungry (at that time)"
  8. **お腹が空いていませんでした** = "I was not hungry (at that time)"

First, お腹が空きません never means "I am not hungry (now)". It's either you've
misread the textbook or your textbook is wrong. Sentence 4 is the only one
that means "I am not hungry (now)".

Next, if you compare Sentences 5 and 6, they do look inconsistent, and it's
certainly a tricky part of tense/aspect in Japanese. This is a FAQ, so please
read: [Why is a verb in the past (た形) contradicted with
～ていない?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/42242/5010)




  1. **お腹が空きます** = "I (always) get hungry" (habitual); "It makes me hungry; It's appetizing" (one-time) 

> 魚を見るとお腹が空きます。  
>  Seeing fish (always) makes me hungry.

  2. **お腹が空きません** = "I don't get hungry" (habitual); "It doesn't make me hungry; It's unappetizing" (one-time) 

> 魚を見てもお腹が空きません。  
>  Seeing fish never makes me hungry.

  3. **お腹が空いています** = "I am hungry (now)" ([teiru-form for resultant state](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/3122/5010))
  4. **お腹が空いていません** = "I am not hungry (now)"
  5. **お腹が空きました** = "I am hungry (now)" (past-form effectively describing the current state); "I got hungry (at that time)" (simple past-form)
  6. **お腹が空きませんでした** = "I didn't get hungry" (past) 

> 昨日は何も食べなかったのにお腹が空きませんでした。  
>  I ate nothing yeasterday, but I didn't get hungry.

  7. **お腹が空いていました** = "I was hungry (at that time)"
  8. **お腹が空いていませんでした** = "I was not hungry (at that time)"

First, お腹が空きません never means "I am not hungry (now)". It's either you've
misread the textbook or your textbook is wrong. Sentence 4 is the only one
that means "I am not hungry (now)".

Next, if you compare Sentences 5 and 6, they do look inconsistent, and it's
certainly a tricky part of tense/aspect in Japanese. This is a FAQ, so please
read: [Why is a verb in the past (た形) contradicted with
～ていない?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/42242/5010)

