ないで (naide) Meaning Japanese Grammar - Without Doing

ないで (naide) is an expression that is used to indicate an action done without another, or a request not to perform a certain action.

More specifically, ないで is used in the following 2 situations:

• express the meaning of without doing (A), I do (B);
• Make a request to someone not to do (A), thus translates an imperative form.

In this post we go to see how the expression ないで is formed, where it comes from, and how to use it in different contexts.

We'll also see the difference between ないで and なくて.

Where does ないで come from

ないで is a combination of the auxiliary verb ない (not to exist) and of the particle で.

In this expression, the conjugated verb in the negative form ない expresses not to do, while で means with; together the literal meaning becomes with without doing ....

ないで is also one of two possible negative conjugations of the te form (て), along with なくて.

ないで and なくて

ないで means without doing, なくて is the negative te form of the auxiliary ない and has several functions.

They are two forms with quite different meanings and uses:

• なくて is used to say I did not do (A) and I did (B); that is, the action (A) is not performed and the action is performed. (B);
• ないで indicates that I did (A) without doing (B).

Example with the verb 閉(し)める close, we have the 2 forms 閉(し)めなくて and 閉(し)めないで:

The following sentence is with the verb 来(く)る come in the 2 forms 来(こ)ないで and 来(こ)なくて.

The form in て, in this case negative なくて, has various functions. In the previous sentence we had the coordinative function expressed by the conjunction and.

In the other functions it can express a reason, a cause, a situation and can be translated by the conjunctions therefore, then etc.

Previous example:

`I got worried when I did not see my friend arrive.

ないで to say "without doing"

As mentioned, the main meaning of ないで is to do (A) without doing (B). To form this expression it is sufficient to conjugate the preceding verb in the negative form ない and add the particle で.

In this example the verb 磨(みが)く (brush) is conjugated in its negative form in ない and linked to the particle で. The meaning therefore becomes without washing (brushing) ....

ないで can only be used with verbs

The use of ないで expresses the idea that (A) has never been done before without (B), which indicates something that is contrary to what we expect. For this reason, ないで is used to express something unexpected or surprising.

ないで for "don't do" requests

The second use of ないで is to ask someone not to do a certain action. This expression is formed in the same way as the previous one. It will therefore be necessary to know the context to understand which of the two meanings is expressed.

This expression is often followed by ください (kudasai) ないでください which means 'please don't do' and thus indicates a polite request.

ないで in prohibitions

The ないで imperative form is commonly used in prohibition signs.

I'll share some images of kanban 看(かん)板(ばん) signboards from the Internet expressing things that are forbidden to do; "prohibition" is also expressed using the form てはいけない.

Other examples of ないで