45236
The way I understand it, 何{なん}でもない and 別{べつ}に are both ways of saying "It's
not important", "It's nothing" i.e. brushing off the question being asked.
Does this mean that they are interchangeable? Or are there certain contexts
where 何でもない is used and 別に cannot be and vice versa?

For example, in episode 19 of Revolutionary Girl Utena, the character Wakaba
is asked by another character "Why do you keep accusing me of [being a
player]?" to which she starts to reply, but then decides against it, saying
"別に...何でもない" and turns away. In this context, she uses both, which makes me
think that she uses both as a way of reinforcing "It's not important", which
makes me think that both expressions have similar meaning and are therefore
interchangeable.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-04T18:50:40.677
45235
2017-04-05T15:58:27.107
18852
question
meaning expressions
Are 何でもない and 別に interchangeable?
別に is an adverb and 何でもない is an adjective expression. They can both be used on
their own to mean something that an English speaker understands from "it's not
important".

They are not interchangeable though, first of all for their part of speech
difference and their meaning also changes with context. 「 **別に** いい」 means
"it's okay" and 「完璧でも **何でもない** 」 means "not perfect or anything".

In 「別に…何でもない」 their meaning can reinforce each other, but it depends on
intonation and pauses what was actually meant. In 別に the meaning of something
not being important is only implied, so it is possible that 何でもない confirms the
implication.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-04T19:04:33.137
45236
2017-04-04T19:16:11.947
2017-04-04T19:16:11.947
19206
19206
45235
answer