Structure
Verb［ない］ + ことには + Verb［ない］
［い］Adjective［ない］+ ことには + Verb［ない］
［な］Adjective. + でない + ことには + Verb［ない］
Noun + でない + ことには + Verb［ない］
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Standard
使用域
一般
About ないことには～ない
ないことには～ない is a 2-part structure in Japanese that is used to express that 'unless you do (A), (B) will not happen or exist'. This is a combination of ない, こと, に, は, and then something followed by ない in the (B) part of the sentence. Literally, it just means 'within the situation of (A) not being a thing, neither will (B)'.
This structure may appear with verbs and い-Adjectives in their ない forms, or nouns followed by でない.
This structure may appear with verbs and い-Adjectives in their ない forms, or nouns followed by でない.
- ヘルメットを被らないことには、この工事現場には入れない。You cannot enter this construction site unless you wear a safety helmet.
- ジェットコースターが危なくないことには、楽しくない。Roller coasters are no fun, unless they are dangerous.
- 何事も一生懸命でないことには、何も上手くなれない。You won't get good at anything, unless you try your best in everything you do.
- 許可書がないことには、ここへは入れません。Unless you have a permit, you cannot enter beyond this point.
Caution - Occasionally, ないことには will be seen in sentences that do not finish with a word in the negative form. In these cases, ないことには implies that not being in the state of (A) will negatively affect (B). This translates similarly to 'without (A), unfortunately (B)', and often has structures like しまう following (B).
- 漢字がかけないことには、このテストは難しすぎるかもしれません。Unfortunately, this test may be too hard if you are unable to write kanji.
- 高速を使わないことには、待ち合わせ時間に遅れてしまう。Without using the highway, I am going to be late.
Synonyms
Examples
夫婦では仲良くしないことには、うまくいかない。
Unless married couples get along, things won't go well.
やってみないことには、出来るかどうか分からない。
You won't know if you can do it or not unless you try.
卒業論文を終わらせないことには、気持ちがなかなか落ち着かない。
Unless I finish my thesis, I won't really calm down.
髭を剃らないことには、仕事に行けない。
Unless you shave your facial hair, you cannot go to work.
資料を揃えないことには先方に提出できません。
Unless we put the documents in order, we cannot present them to the other party.
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Negative Patterns
Imabi
ないことには〜ない
絵でわかる日本語
ないことには
NihongoDen
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ないことには～ない – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (3 in total)
FredKore
Just thinking… Is this point somehow related to なくてはいけない? Sounds like they could be related. Like this…
～ないことにはいけない
～なくてはいけない
Slysoft
Am I correct in thinking that this structure could be boiled down to simply ないと?
For example, the first review sentence is「夫婦では仲良くしないことには、うまくいかない。」but to me, you could just say「夫婦では仲良くしないと、うまくいかない。」and it means the same thing. The second review sentence,「やってみないことには、出来るかどうか分からない。」similarly could be said「やってみないと、出来るかどうかわからない。」and carry the same meaning to me.
Obviously this isn’t the first or last time there’s many ways to say the same thing, but is this a correct assumption? There was nothing suggesting ないと in the related grammar section of the lesson.
wct
According to the grammar point for なし, the word/vocab 無し (なし) is equivalent to ない事 (ないこと):
About なし
Although it is used almost exclusively as a suffix, なし is actually a noun that means ないこと ‘thing without’. …
So, that would seem to imply that this grammar point, ないことには～ない, would be equivalent to a similar (identical?) hypothetical grammar point なしには～ない. Is that correct?
Because when I checked on Jisho, I found several sentences for なしには (sentences), and they all followed the pattern of ending with a negative, i.e. なしには～ない.
Is this correct, that ないことには～ない is equivalent to なしには～ない (simply because なし is equivalent to ないこと)?
I...
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