Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 1: 12/18

なくて (Sequence)To not ~ and ~, Not ~ and ~ (Conjugations)

Structure

Verb［ない］+ な + くて
［い］Adjective［い］ + くな + くて
［な］Adjective + では(1)ない + な + くて
Noun + では(1)ない + な + くて

Exceptions:
いい ￫ よくなくて
する ￫ しなくて
くる ￫ こなくて

(1) じゃ

Details

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    Standard

About なくて

In Japanese, なくて is a construction that combines ない (in its conjugation form, なく), with the conjunction particle て. This results in the same 'and' meaning as the standard て form, but with the negative meaning of ない. なくて can be translated as 'to not (A), and…', or 'not (A), and…', depending on what type of word it is used with.

As discussed in our initial lesson about ない, there are two forms of this particular word. One form is an auxiliary verb, and is used with verbs. The other form of ない is an い-Adjective (形容詞(けいようし)), and is used with nouns, な-Adjectives, and い-Adjectives.

The difference between these two, is that the い-Adjective form may have は in between it and the word it is connected to (では in the case of nouns and な-Adjectives). With verbs, due to ない being an auxiliary verb, this is not possible.

Caution

なくて is very similar to ないで, another structure that is regularly used with verbs (but may not be used with nouns or adjectives). ないで is far more common when expressing 'not doing' something, while なくて tends to be used almost exclusively for expressing reasons/causes.

  • トーマスにはまだプレゼントをあげないでね。
    Please don't give Thomas his present yet. (No particular reason, simply implies 'without doing')
  • もらったクッキーを弟(おとうと)にあげなくて、妹(いもうと)にあげた。
    I did not give the cookie I got to my brother, but to my sister. (Implies a specific reason for not giving it to the brother)

Examples

--:--

    なる → ならなくて

    to become → to not become and...

    嫌(きら)い → 嫌(きら)いではなくて

    dislike → not dislike and...

    病気(びょうき) → 病気(びょうき)じゃなくて

    illness → not an illness and...

    高(たか)い → 高(たか)くなくて

    expensive/tall → not expensive/tall and...

    いい → よくなくて

    good → not good and...

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なくて – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (13 in total)

  • Asher

    Asher

    Thanks for letting us know about the error! I have just fixed it. It looks like ない was crossed out, when it was just い that should have been crossed out with く following it .

  • Lederhosen42

    Lederhosen42

    I was wondering if I could get some clarification on the caution section of this page discussing the difference between なくて and ないで:

    The page states that なくて is (almost always) used exclusively when providing an explanation, whereas ないで’s usage is more for generally “not doing [verb].” But example sentences earlier on the page have なくて being used to simply state “thing is not [quality/noun] and also not [quality/noun]” or “thing is not [quality/noun] and is [quality/noun].”

    Does this “rule” for なくて only apply when used with verbs? I ask because it seems like the section might be specifically addressing usage with verbs since it mentions ないで is used with verbs, but I wasn’t sure.

  • KanjiCollector

    KanjiCollector

    Just came here to say that I also think なくて should be explained before なくてはいけない and なくてはならない. I spent literally two extra weeks drilling the なくてはいけない and なくてはならない into my head.

    I understand some people may be affected by “some concepts at a certain level might be too much at once” but others like myself are here to learn, the correct way. Why teach out of order.

    I cant wrap my head around why its set up this way. It would make sense if なくて was taught wayyy down the line but its only a few lessons away?
    なくて - N4 Section 1/10
    なくてはいけない and なくてはならない - N5 Section 9/10

    My recommendation, just swap them with eachother. If that doesnt work, maybe put a little blurb saying this is a “secondary” step in this grammar.

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