あたしも、猫舌！！！
This is a good answer. Just want to add a few small things.
Let’s say your friend is like bro help me with my maths homework and you say ごめん、よくわからない。This has the meaning of I spent some time trying to figure out the theory in the homework but I still don’t understand it that well. It makes no sense here to say 知る because that would be like saying “Sorry, I’ve never heard of this maths theory you’re talking about” which is not the nuance you’re going for here since you absolutely do know about the theory, you just don’t get it.
I also wouldn’t be so quick to say that 知る and its variants sound cold since sometimes it’s the only verb you can use when expressing the idea that you’ve never heard of something. Hey, you know Death Note? Nah man, 知らない. You can definitely make it sound cold depending on the tone you use when saying 知らない. I guess one situation I can think of is when you’re trying to be sarcastic and want to not care about or pretend to not know about something.
2 Likes
Yes! I did want to convey that with my contexts, but thanks for clarifying. I absolutely agree that 知らない isn’t really “cold” since it is the only possible answer in so many contexts. Thanks for adding to my explanation!! 
This is how I think about it, feel free to tear this apart:
“Correct”:
知っている — You are in the state of knowing about Sailor Moon. This is because in the past, you went from the state of not knowing, to the state of knowing.
知らない — You do not know about Sailor Moon
“Incorrect”:
知る — You know, but you know in the same way that you go to the store or read books; you’re not always doing it.
知ってない — You “are not knowing”. Maybe you were knowing it earlier?
Edit: I just realized that most of this logic doesn’t apply to 分かる.
1 Like
Can I also point out (sorry, I know I’ve said so much) that 分かりません => 分からない => 分かんない => 分からん。
分かんない is SUPER popular among my high school students and younger adults.
I think the question came from the fact that we all know the rundown you described and yet we do still get told that 知らない comes off as blunt.
The fact that textbooks say “this is a 知る situation, and this is a 分かる situation, and that’s the only way it can be” doesn’t mean that people hold to that 100% in real conversations. The same way real grammar is sloppy, with particles omitted here and there, and filled with colloquialisms.
1 Like
This answer has some information on when to use each of them. There are also many examples of usage.
The first main point to get from that page is that 分かる is used with things that relate to you, and 知る is used with things that do not (the answer goes into much more depth). There are edge cases where people might disagree on which to use.
The second point is that 知る means “to come to know” rather than “to know” in a similar way to how 持つ does not mean “to have.”
2 Likes
Precisely.
Example. I was asked if I like snow. I’ve never been in snow. So I replied 知りません. I was told that 分かりません was better to use because “is like cold words in Japanese” and “I don’t really say it because someone think I’m angry”. This is a case where in English “I don’t understand” wouldn’t make much sense. That’s why I’m thinking they carry a little different connotations in Japanese.
This actually makes sense. A lot. Thanks for the post.
This is the same link that was just posted silly. 
Thank you very much though.
Good good. Make Alex look silly instead 
1 Like
I am Alex and I approve this message.
I never knew (知る) I needed this topic so much, since I never knew (分かる) how to use these two properly…
2 Likes
わからない is what I hear most often. And other variations of it.
Every so often I get a 知らん / 知らない / 知らないです
My girlfriend is Japanese, but from Osaka, so we speak a lot of 大阪弁. So lot’s of わからへん / わからんで！and 知らん is also thrown around fairly loosely.
1 Like
This is completely a sidenote to your question but I was in Sapporo once and there was this Ainu craft shop and I summoned some courage and asked in Japanese where a certain piece (a carved owl) was from. The owner said “wakaranai” (I don’t know) and I said “Wakkanai! sugoi!” (Wakkanai is a city in Hokkaido) and the whole shop laughed.
8 Likes
Were they laughing with you or at you?
Well I wasnt laughing, I had no idea what was going on. A nice lady explained it to me.
This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.