～ないで下(くだ)さいPlease don't (Polite request)

Most Recent Replies (9 in total)

• 

  Jake

  please don’t

  Structure

  • Verb[ない] + で + ください

  [polite request not to]

  View on Bunpro

• 

  durtle9831

  Sorry if it is a stupid question with obvious answer, just do as it said in the book.

  In before this lesson polite verb requests in my head worked like that with V[て]＋ください. But there are explicit 「で」 for negative verbs for some reason .

  Verbs in nai-form look like and act a lot like i-adjectives (at least in my head). Then there is a te-form for i-adjectives. At least that’s what I got from Tae Kim’s Te-form_conjugation_rules.
  So why is it 行かないでください instead of 行かなくてください.

  Yes, I am aware that V[ない] and V[たい] have some peculiar properties and not 100% i-adjectives. But this grammar point just so unsettling to me, i couldn’t help but speak up

  ご清聴（せいちょう）ありがとうございました

• 

  Jake

  Hey @durtle9831
  If you take a look at the structure it is Verb[ない] + で + ください
  The で is separate from the verb and not related to the Verb[て] (I am guessing the confusion comes from 飲む・読む etc conjugating into 飲んで・読んで in the て form ?). I believe in this instance the で is actually the particle で and taking on the meaning of “in such a way”. So the literal translation for 行かないでください might be something along the lines of “please be in such a way as to not go/not be going”. Maybe @mrnoone can expand on it or correct me if I am wrong.

• 

  durtle9831

  Yep. And also the sequencing like
  彼女は、きれいで、優しくて、頭もいいから、皆に人気がある。
  Because she is pretty, gentle, and smart, (she’s) popular with everybody.

  It never even crossed my mind that で is a particle here. Now it makes much more sense, thank you

• 

  mrnoone

  @durtle9831

  So why is it 行かないでください instead of 行かなくてください.

  You can think of it like this:
  There are two alternativeて forms of ない that have a bit different uses.

  The
  Verbなくて example: 食べなくて (just like てform of adjective)
  And verbないで example: 食べないで

  ないで can be used only with verbs. なくて, on the other hand, can be used with nouns, adjectives and verbs.
  But if なくて is used with a verb (not in fixed expression) it has to express reason or cause. (ないで doesn’t have this requirement, also when なくて is used with nouns and adjectives it simply means “not, and/ is not…, but”)

  **In other words, if you simply want to say: “not and” for verbs your default choice is ないで and for adjectives and nouns なくて。If you want to state a reason/cause then you can use なくて. (though it is usually used in certain fixed contexts, more ...

• 

  durtle9831

  Yes! Thank you for your in depth explanation. Now it really makes the whole picture come together.

  This phrase. With a double negation. Honestly I’m speechless, it is amazing.

  Upd. Actually I came across this exact grammar on Wanikani not even a day after
  そろそろ草を刈らなくてはなりません。
  You have to cut the grass soon.

• 

  Howl_UK

  Brace yourself. There are a ton of BunPro grammar points coming your way soon that mean ‘must/have to do’. Get ready to embrace the double negatives!

• 

  durtle9831

  There is actually a really similar grammar point that explains the thing i got confused about in a broader application. Hope this helps someone.

  • ないで | Japanese Grammar SRS .
• 

  KrisV70

  I often get this grammar point wrong ないでください
  て+は+いけません
  Is the construction I use.

  I am saying you mustn’t play soccer here if I understand it correctly.
  And it is still polite.

  What am I missing here?

• 

  Wimble

  Apologies if this is the wrong place, but for the example sentence:
  トイレに行くのは忘れないでください。
  Is the の in 行くのは used for nominalisation?
  If so, does 忘れる need to act on a “noun phrase” and does this extend to all transitive verbs?