What is the difference between ではありません and 〜くない


I am not sure when ではありません and 〜くない are used. I was given the sentence
この赤いかばんは大きいではありません (as in "this red bag is not big") and I am not sure why
この赤いかばんは大きくないです was not used. Could anyone explain? Thanks!




> この赤いかばんは大きいではありません

Are you sure this is the sentence you saw and that it came from a reputable
source?

The sentence does **not** mean "This red bag is not big". As you correctly
pointed out, the correct way to say that would be この赤いかばんは大きくありません or
この赤いかばんは大きくないです etc.

You cannot negate an i-adjective by adding ではありません, ではない、じゃない etc, after the
adjective.

This sentence has the opposite meaning of "This red bag is big, isn't it?",
but expressed rather formally. [This
link](http://maggiesensei.com/2013/02/13/how-to-
use-%E3%80%9C%E3%81%98%E3%82%83%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84-janai%E3%80%80%EF%BC%86%E3%80%80%E3%80%9C%E3%82%93%E3%81%98%E3%82%83%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84-njanai/)
may be helpful.

