Last time, you learned how to express sequential and parallel actions, e.g. “船に乗って日本に来ました (I took a ferry and came to Japan),” and “私は船に乗って、お父さんは飛行機に乗りました (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
| Table of Contents Sequential Actions: …ないで and …ずに Means: …ないで and …ずに Reasons (Causation): …なくて Negative Parallel Actions: …ないで and …なくて |
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
| 見ない | 見 ないで・なくて・ずに |
| 買わない | 買わ ないで・なくて・ずに |
| 読まない | 読ま ないで・なくて・ずに |
| しない | し ないで・なくて・ |
| 来ない | 来 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.
| 美味しくない | 美味しく ないで・なくて・ずに |
| 元気じゃない | 元気じゃ ないで・なくて・ずに |
| 医者じゃない | 医者じゃ 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
| 夫はお酒を飲んで | 家に帰って（きた / きました） |
| First Action | Second Action |
| [My] husband drank alcohol and came home. | |
| 夫はお酒を飲まないで | 家に帰って（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.
| ご飯を食べないで（寝る / 寝ます）。 [I] will go to bed without eating a meal. |
| 遠慮しないで聞いて（ください）ね。 Please ask [me something] without hesitation. |
| さよならを言わないで引っ越し（た / ました）。 [I] moved without saying goodbye. |
| 窓を閉めないで出かけ（た / ました）。 [I] left without closing the window. |
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.
| ご飯を食べずに（寝る / 寝ます）。 |
| 遠慮せずに聞いて（ください）ね。 |
| さよならを言わずに引っ越し（た / ました）。 |
| 窓を閉めずに出かけ（た / ました）。 |
Means: …ないで and …ずに
| [私は] 飛行機に乗って | 日本に（来た /来ました） |
| First Action (Means) | Second Action |
| [I] came to Japan by taking a flight. | |
| [私は] 飛行機に乗らないで | 日本に（来た /来ました） |
| 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.”
| 歌詞を見ないで（歌った / 歌いました）。 [I] sung without looking at the lyrics. |
| 資格を取らないで就職（した / しました）。 [I] got a job without taking a qualification. |
| 携帯を持たずに旅行（する / します）。 [I] will travel without having a cellphone. |
| 辞書を使わずに問題を（解く / 解きます）。 [I] will solve the question without using a dictionary. |
Reasons (Causation): …なくて
| お父さんが病気になって | [私は] 心配（した / しました） |
| First Action (Reason) | Second Action |
| [I] was worried that [my] father got sick. | |
| お父さんの病気が治らなくて | [私は] 心配（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.
| 宿題をしなくて怒られ（た / ました）。 [I] was scolded because [I] didn’t do homework. |
| 料理が美味しくなくて、食べられ（ない / ません）。 The meal is not good, so [I] cannot eat [it]. |
| 日本語が上手じゃなくて、よく（困る / 困ります）。 [My] Japanese is not good, so [I] often get trouble. |
Negative Parallel Actions: …ないで and …なくて
| 妹が学校に行って、 | 私は学校に行かなかった（です） |
| Parallel Action | Parallel Action |
| [My] younger sister went to school, but I didn’t. | |
| 私は学校に行かなくて、 | 妹が学校に（行った / 行きました） |
| 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.
| 薬は甘くなくて、苦い（です）。 Medicines are not sweet, but bitter. |
| 大学生じゃなくて、高校生（だ / です）。 [I] am not a university student, but a high school one. |
| 京都に行かなくて、大阪に（行った / 行きました）。 [I] didn’t go to Kyoto, but Osaka. |
| ご飯を食べないで、ケーキを食べ（た / ました）。 [I] didn’t eat a meal, but cake. |
Negative Conjunctive Form （連用形）
| ご飯を食べず（寝る / 寝ます） |
| お父さんの病気が治らなく、心配（した / しました）。 |
| 料理が美味しくなく、食べられ（ない / ません） |
| 大学生じゃなく、高校生（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.
| 私は学校に行かずに、妹が学校に（行った / 行きました）。 => Unnatural |
| 私は学校に行かず、妹が学校に（行った / 行きました）。 => Natural |
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.