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
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), 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.
Related
Vocab Coverage
All Bunpro Vocab that appears on this item.
Examples
--:--
なる → ならなくて
To become → To not become and...
嫌い → 嫌いではなくて
Dislike → Not dislike and...
病気 → 病気じゃなくて
Illness → Not an illness and...
高い → 高くなくて
Expensive/tall → Not expensive/tall and...
いい → よくなくて
Good → Not good and...
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なくて vs ないで
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なくて – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (20 in total)
BreadmanNin
Ah, perfect. Thank you so much. That clears everything up.
Hestia
The question: 高い → ____ ( Expensive/tall → Not expensive/tall and…) is bad.
Why does it only accept なくて but not ないで? “Not… and…” alone cannot determine which one to use.
casual
Without commenting on the issue if the question type is good or bad, I’d like to remind that ないで only goes with verbs, not with i-adjectives like 高い.