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
Register
Standard
使用域
一般
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.
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.
- 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)
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
--:--
Get more example sentences!
Premium users get access to 12 example sentences on all Grammar Points.
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...
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 (12 in total)
evil_eye
This section contains incorrect information:
it says [い]Adjective[ない] + な + くてExcept い adjectives are always conjugated with くなくて, not なくて
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
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.
Got questions about なくて? Join us to discuss, ask, and learn together!
Join the Discussion