Meaning & usage
あまり before a negative predicate softens the degree to mean not very or not much. It comes before verbs like 見ない, i-adjectives and na-adjectives like おしゃれじゃない, and noun predicates like 気分じゃなかった, with the negative ending kept at the end. It is common in neutral speech for downplaying degree, and the negative form is required to keep this meaning.
Example sentences 4
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あまり出かける気分じゃなかった。
I didn't really feel like going out.
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これはあまりおしゃれじゃない。
This is not very stylish.
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その川はあまりきれいではなかった。
The river was not so clean.
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テレビはあまり見ないのですかね？
I suppose you don't watch very much television, right?
In past JLPT papers
This came up in 13 past exam questions.
And 9 more tests.
