Structure
Verb[ない]+ な + くて
[い]Adjective[ない] + 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
する → しなくて
くる → こなくて
(1) じゃ
Details
Register
Standard
使用域
一般
About なくて
- お金がなくて車が買えない。I don't have money, and I can't buy a car.
- あのケーキは甘くはなくてまずいです。That cake is not sweet, and tastes bad. (は is frequently added between the stem form of adjectives and ない. Often, this is just for emphasis)
- 私の車は静かではなくてガソリンの減りも早い。My car is not quiet, and runs out of gas quickly.
- あれは犬ではなくて猫でもないです。That is not a dog, and not a cat either.
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.
- この風呂は汚れはなくて、いつもいい匂いがする。This bath is not dirty, so it always smells good. (Unnatural Japanese, as は will never come between a verb and ない)
- この風呂は汚れなくて、いつもいい匂いがする。This bath doesn't get dirty, and it always smells good. (Natural Japanese)
- 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にあげなくて、妹にあげた。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)
Synonyms
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...
Some な-Adjectives end in い, but 嫌い and 幸い are the most misleading since they are not completely written in kanji like 綺麗 or 安静.
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...
Get more example sentences!
Premium users get access to 12 example sentences on all Grammar Points.
Self-Study Sentences
Study your own way!
Add sentences and study them alongside Bunpro sentences.
Online
なくて vs ないで
BriefJapanese
Offline
There are no Offline resources listed for 「なくて」.
You can . Resources are constantly updated, come back later to see new additions!
Track Resources!
Bunpro tracks all of the resources you’ve visited, and offers relevant bookmarks of physical books to help with offline tracking.
なくて – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (8 in total)
Superpnut
About 1 year ago
What is the difference between じゃなくて and ではなくて?
Because for this one it wants じゃ
病気 → 病気じゃなくてBut for this one it wants では
医者 → 医者ではなくてBut in the lesson point itself it just only says you use では so I’m kind of confused as the rule?
mrnoone
About 1 year ago
@Superpnut
Hey!
You can think of じゃ as casual contraction of では.
Just like ではない and じゃない.You might also see でなくて without は, which is also correct .
Cheers
PS
You can see information like this in the structure section:
Superpnut
About 1 year ago
OOOHH okay I didn’t know what the numbers really showed. I think I get it now I’m just a bit slow
Got questions about なくて? Join us to discuss, ask, and learn together!
Join the Discussion