Grammar Info

N3 Lesson 1: 6/23

ない内(うち)にBefore it becomes, Before ~ occurs, Without

Unfavorable result

Structure

Verb［ない］+ うちに + Phrase

Details

  • Standard

  • Rare Kanji

    無い

About ないうちに

In contrast to うちに, which is often used to express the 'optimal', or 'best' time within which something should occur, ないうちに expresses the time within which something 'does not' occur, and results in (or causes) something negative, or will cause something negative if not dealt with. This means that 'before (A) happens (B)', or 'without (A) happening, (B).

うちに will be paired with verbs in their ない (negative) form, before the (B) phrase highlights something that 'is done to prevent (A) from happening', or 'happened unfortunately during (A)'.

Fun Fact

前(まえ)に and ないうちに are used in very similar situations, with the primary difference being that ないうちに focuses more on unfavorable results.

Related

Vocab Coverage

All Bunpro Vocab that appears on this item.

Examples

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  • 暗(くら)くならない内(うち)に帰(かえ)って来(き)なさいよ。

    Come back home before it gets dark.

  • 私(わたし)が知(し)らない内(うち)に、友達(ともだち)が離婚(りこん)していた。

    Before I knew it, my friend was divorced.

  • 冷(さ)めない内(うち)にお召(め)し上(あ)がりください。

    Please eat it before it gets cold.

  • 眠(ねむ)くならない内(うち)に宿題(しゅくだい)を終(お)わらせよう。

    Let's finish the homework before I get sleepy.

  • いくらも泳(およ)がない内(うち)に、向(む)こう岸(ぎし)についてしまった。

    Without swimming that much, I reached the other shore.

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ないうちに – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (5 in total)

  • en_velours

    en_velours

    I think there’s a mistake in this example sentence,

  • mrnoone

    mrnoone

    @en_velours
    Hey

    That’s actually my error, I changed sentence to ひめる because it sounds more natural that way, but forgot to change the word for conjugation

    It should be all good now.

    Sorry for the inconvenience

  • feddybear

    feddybear

    The “Fun Fact” section says 前に and ないうちに are used in very similar situations, with ないうちに focusing more on unfavorable results. The given examples don’t convincingly show that contrast, though.

    The second example 知らないうちに家の前にあるラーメン屋が潰れていた uses the “without noticing / before I knew it” sense of ないうちに. I can’t think of how to swap it with 前に as 知る前に潰れていた doesn’t carry that meaning, so it doesn’t illustrate the difference the Fun Fact describes.

    A same-sentence pair would make the point much clearer, for example:
    雨が降る前に帰ろう。(neutral sequence)
    雨が降らないうちに帰ろう。(act now, while it still isn’t raining)

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