Formal Pattern for an Unaffected Outcome

The formal pattern ～ようが～まいが expresses that whether an action happens or not, the outcome remains exactly the same.

The formal sentence pattern ～ようが～まいが expresses that whether a specific action occurs or not, the resulting situation or outcome remains exactly the same. It is a literary and heavy expression often translated as "whether or not." Because of its dramatic tone, it is generally reserved for written texts, formal speech, or situations where the speaker wants to state a strong, unbending resolve. In casual, everyday conversation, Japanese speakers naturally prefer the much softer ～ても～なくても pattern instead.

A strict rule of this pattern is that it must repeat the exact same verb in both halves. The first half states the positive action using the volitional form followed by the particle が. The second half states the negative action using the negative volitional ending まい, also followed by が. Together, they create a contrasting pair that covers both possibilities: doing the action and not doing the action. The clause that follows this pair will always describe a fixed fact, an unaffected result, or the speaker's unchanging decision.

For an ichidan verb, the first half of this pattern uses the standard volitional form ending in よう (for example, 食べよう). For the second half, the negative volitional まいが can attach in two different ways: it can attach directly to the verb pre-ます form (食べまいが), or it can attach to the dictionary form (食べるまいが). Both forms are correct and natural in formal contexts, meaning you will encounter both 食べようが食べまいが and 食べようが食べるまいが.

An irregular verb has its own established forms for this pattern. For する, the first half is しようが, and the second half can be either すまいが or するまいが. For 来る, the first half is こようが, and the second half can be either こまいが or くるまいが. Both versions of まい are valid and commonly used in formal writing, though it is important to note that the short forms (すまい and こまい) attach to the nai-stem, not the pre-ます form.

It is important not to mix this specific pattern with godan verbs. A godan verb follows the exact same grammatical logic but uses the う volitional ending instead of よう. For example, the godan verb 行く becomes 行こうが行くまいが, not 行きようが. Regardless of the verb class, the core function remains the same: it clearly separates the condition from the consequence, highlighting that the outcome is inevitable no matter what choice is made.