sake wo nomimasen.

Japanese often leaves out the subject when it is obvious from context. So 酒を飲みません。 can mean I do not drink alcohol, but depending on the situation it could also mean he/she/they do not drink alcohol.

In many real conversations, Japanese sounds more natural without repeating subjects unless they are needed for clarity.

酒 can mean sake in the narrow sense, but in everyday Japanese it often means alcohol or alcoholic drinks in general.

So in this sentence, it usually means alcohol rather than only Japanese rice wine.

A very common everyday word is お酒, which is a more polite or common way to say alcohol.

を is the object particle. It marks the thing that the verb acts on.

Here:

• 酒 = alcohol
• を = marks alcohol as the object
• 飲みません = do not drink

So 酒を飲みません literally means something like alcohol — do not drink.

飲みません is the polite negative form of the verb 飲む, which means to drink.

Breakdown:

• 飲む = dictionary form
• 飲みます = polite non-past
• 飲みません = polite negative non-past

So 飲みません means do not drink or will not drink, depending on context.

This is because ます attaches to the verb’s stem, not directly to the negative base.

For 飲む:

• dictionary form: 飲む
• verb stem: 飲み
• polite form: 飲みます
• polite negative: 飲みません

So the correct form is 飲みません, not 飲まません.

It is technically non-past, which means it can refer to either:

• a present habit: I do not drink
• a future action: I will not drink

Japanese often does not separate present and future as clearly as English does. Context tells you which meaning is intended.

The difference is politeness.

• 飲みません = polite
• 飲まない = casual/plain

So:

• 酒を飲みません。 sounds polite and appropriate in many normal situations.
• 酒を飲まない。 is more casual and would be used with friends, in informal speech, or in plain written style.

Yes. お酒を飲みません is very natural and common.

Adding お makes the word more polite and more common in everyday speech:

• 酒 = alcohol
• お酒 = alcohol, with polite/polite-sounding prefix

In many situations, お酒を飲みません may sound more natural than 酒を飲みません.

Yes, slightly.

• 酒を飲みません simply states I do not drink alcohol.
• 酒は飲みません puts emphasis on alcohol as the topic or contrast.

So 酒は飲みません can feel more like:

• As for alcohol, I do not drink it
• I do not drink alcohol, though maybe I drink other things

Using は often adds contrast or topical focus.

It is pronounced roughly nomimasen.

The verb 飲む is nomu, so:

• 飲みます = nomimasu
• 飲みません = nomimasen

The み is part of the verb stem, so the pronunciation changes from nomu to nomi- before ます and ません.

Yes, it is grammatically correct and natural, especially as a simple statement.

However, in everyday conversation, people often say:

• お酒は飲みません。
• お酒を飲みません。

These may sound a bit more common depending on the situation. Still, 酒を飲みません。 is perfectly understandable and correct.