なくて
To watch
Structure
Verb[ない] + くて
行く → 行かなくて
い-Adj[ない] + くなくて
面白い → 面白くなくて
な-Adj + で(は)なくて/じゃなくて
しずか → しずかで(は)なくて → しずかじゃなくて
Noun + で(は)なくて/じゃなくて
先生 → 先生で(は)なくて → 先生じゃなくて
⚠︎Exceptions⚠︎:
いい → よくなくて
する → しなくて
くる → こなくて
Conjugations
to not...and...
not...and...
Nuances
[Japanese verbs have two negative て-forms - なくて and ないで . なくて is more limited and is mostly used to express reason/cause ]
[Adjectives and nouns only have the なくて form]
Expressing a sequence of states
It is very easy to combine a chain of nouns and adjectives to describe a person or object. For example, in English if we wanted to say, “He is X. He is Y. He is Z.” since all three sentences have the same noun, we would usually say, “He is X, Y, and Z.” In Japanese, we can do the same thing by conjugating the noun or adjective. The last noun or adjective remains the same as before.
How to chain nouns and adjectives together
- For nouns and na-adjectives: Attach 「で」 to the noun or na-adjective. Examples
一般的 → 一般的で
静か → 静かで
- For i-adjectives and negative noun/adjectives: Replace the 「い」 with 「くて」. ※For 「いい」 and 「かっこいい」, the 「い→よ」 exception applies here as well. Examples
狭い → 狭くて
彼女じゃない → 彼女じゃなくて
いい → よくて
Examples
私の部屋は、きれいで、静かで、とても好き。 My room is clean, quiet, and I like it a lot.
彼女は、学生じゃなくて、先生だ。 She is not a student, she is a teacher.
田中さんは、お金持ちで、かっこよくて、魅力的ですね。 Tanaka-san is rich, handsome, and charming, isn’t he?
As you can see, the 「で」 attached to 「お金持ち」 obviously cannot be the context particle 「で」 here because there is no verb. It might be helpful to think of 「で」 as merely a substitution for 「だ」 that can be chained together.
Expressing a sequence of verbs with the te-form
In a similar fashion, you can express multiple actions. It is usually interpreted as a sequence of event. (I did [X], then I did [Y], then I finally did [Z].) There are two forms: positive and negative. The tense of all the actions is determined by the tense of the last verb.
How to chain verbs together
- Positive: Conjugate the verb to its past tense and replace 「た」 with 「て」 or 「だ」 with 「で」. This is often called the te-form even though it could sometimes be ‘de’.
- Negative: Same as i-adjectives, replace 「い」 with 「くて」. This rule also works for the polite 「です」 and 「ます」 endings. Examples
学生です → 学生でした → 学生でして
買います → 買いました → 買いまして
Examples
食堂に行って、昼ご飯を食べて、昼寝をする。 I will go to cafeteria, eat lunch, and take a nap.
食堂に行って、昼ご飯を食べて、昼寝をした。 I went to cafeteria, ate lunch, and took a nap.
時間がありまして、映画を見ました。 There was time and I watched a movie.
Negative Sequential and Parallel Actions: …ないで, …なくて, and …ずに
Last time, you learned how to express sequential and parallel actions, e.g. “船ふねに乗のって日に本ほんに来きました (I took a ferry and came to Japan),” and “私わたしは船ふねに乗のって、お父とうさんは飛ひ行こう機きに乗のりました (I took a ferry and my father took a flight).” Then, if you would like to say, “I came to Japan without taking a flight,” what should you say? In this lesson, you will learn how to express negative sequential and parallel actions.
Explanation for the Usage of …ないで, …なくて, and …ずに
As you learned, the te-form can express various things when connecting sentences, e.g. sequential actions, reasons (causation), means, and parallel actions. When it comes to negative sentences, there is not such a useful word. Depending on the context, you have to choose one of the following three words: ないで, なくて, and ずに.
Conjugation Rule
見みない
見み ないで・なくて・ずに
買かわない
買かわ ないで・なくて・ずに
読よまない
読よま ないで・なくて・ずに
しない
し ないで・なくて・ずに*
来こない
来こ ないで・なくて・ずに
The verb conjugation is very simple. You can utilize the negative form and attach ないで, なくて, or ずに instead of ない. There is just one exception. When you conjugate する by using ずに, it has to be せずに.
美味おいしくない
美味おいしく ないで・なくて・ずに
元げん気きじゃない
元げん気きじゃ ないで・なくて・ずに
医い者しゃじゃない
医い者しゃじゃ ないで・なくて・ずに
When it comes to adjectives and nouns, only なくて is available.
Negative Sequential Actions
Sequential Actions: …ないで and …ずに
夫おっとはお酒さけを飲のんで
家いえに帰かえって（きた / きました）
First Action
Second Action
[My] husband drank alcohol and came home.
夫おっとはお酒さけを飲のまないで
家いえに帰かえって（きた / きました）
First Action (Not Done)
Second Action
[My] husband came home without drinking.
ないで is the negative form of the te-form to combine two verbs or more. Considering the fact that first action is not done, you can treat the meaning as “without” in English.
If you use ずに instead of ないで, your speech will sound a little formal. However, ずに can still be heard in conversation.
ご飯はんを食たべずに（寝ねる / 寝ねます）。
遠慮えんりょせずに聞きいて（ください）ね。
さよならを言いわずに引ひっ越こし（た / ました）。
窓まどを閉しめずに出でかけ（た / ました）。
Means: …ないで and …ずに
[私わたしは] 飛ひ行こう機きに乗のって
日に本ほんに（来きた /来きました）
First Action (Means)
Second Action
[I] came to Japan by taking a flight.
[私わたしは] 飛ひ行こう機きに乗のらないで
日に本ほんに（来きた /来きました）
First Action (Means)
Second Action
[I] came to Japan without taking a flight.
Just like the te-form, you can express means that you don’t use. The translation can be “by not doing” or “without doing.”
Reasons (Causation): …なくて
お父とうさんが病びょう気きになって
[私わたしは] 心配しんぱい（した / しました）
First Action (Reason)
Second Action
[I] was worried that [my] father got sick.
お父とうさんの病びょう気きが治なおらなくて
[私わたしは] 心配しんぱい（した / しました）
First Action (Reason)
Second Action
[I] was worried that [my] father didn’t recover from his sickness.
Just like the te-form, you can express reasons (causation) by using なくて. Be careful; you cannot use ないで and ずに in this context. With なくて, you can connect nouns and adjectives.
Negative Parallel Actions: …ないで and …なくて
妹いもうとが学校がっこうに行いって、
私わたしは学校がっこうに行いかなかった（です）
Parallel Action
Parallel Action
[My] younger sister went to school, but I didn’t.
私わたしは学校がっこうに行いかなくて、
妹いもうとが学校がっこうに（行いった / 行いきました）
Parallel Action
Parallel Action
I didn’t go to school, but [my] younger sister did.
Both of the above examples express the same thing. The order of the plain part and the negative part is just opposite. There are two points that you need to pay attention to. The first is that ずに is not available here. The second is that you can use nouns and adjectives with only なくて.
Negative Conjunctive Form （連用形れんようけい）
ご飯はんを食たべず（寝ねる / 寝ねます）
お父とうさんの病びょう気きが治なおらなく、心配しんぱい（した / しました）。
料りょう理りが美味おいしくなく、食たべられ（ない / ません）
大学生だいがくせいじゃなく、高校生こうこうせい（だ / です）。
ずに and なくて have the conjunctive form which can make your speech more formal. The conjugation is to just drop the last letter, i.e. to drop the に of ずに and the て of なくて. Please keep in mind that ないで doesn’t have the conjunctive form and ず can express parallel actions while ずに cannot.
Summary
Sequential Action
Means
Reason (Causation)
Parallel Actions
ないで
Available
Available
Available
ずに
Available
Available
なくて
Available
Available
In plain sentences, you can express all of the functions by just using the te-form. However, you have to use …ないで, …なくて, and …ずに differently as the above table shows. All of them are frequently used expressions and thus you should be able to recognize them when native speakers use them with you. Now you can express sequential and parallel actions. Next, you will learn how to express simultaneous actions.