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JLPT N3Formal Expressions

～ことなく— Without Ever

A formal, written equivalent of ～ないで, meaning 'without (ever) doing ~'. It states that an action was carried out while some other expected action never happened. Because of its literary tone, it is common in essays, news, and speeches rather than casual conversation.

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Pro lessonUNIT 25 · FORMAL EXPRESSIONS

Structure · 形

[Verb dictionary form] + ことなく

Examples · 例文

  • 彼は一度も休むことなく働き続けた。

    Kare wa ichido mo yasumu koto naku hatarakitsuzuketa.

    He kept working without ever taking a single break.

    休む + ことなく = 'without resting even once'

  • 夢を諦めることなく、努力を続けた。

    Yume wo akirameru koto naku, doryoku wo tsuzuketa.

    Without ever giving up on the dream, she kept trying.

    諦める + ことなく modifies how the effort was continued

  • この店は変わることなく昔の味を守っている。

    Kono mise wa kawaru koto naku mukashi no aji wo mamotte iru.

    This shop protects its old flavor without ever changing.

    変わる + ことなく = 'without changing at all'

Usage notes · 注意

  • Register: formal and literary; in speech people usually say 〜ないで.
  • Attaches to the dictionary (plain non-past) form of the verb.
  • Often reinforced by 一度も (not even once) or ずっと for emphasis.

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones ～ことなく is tested against.

vsないで

ないで is the everyday spoken 'without doing'; ことなく is its formal, written-style counterpart with the same meaning.

vsずに

ずに is also 'without doing' but is a set literary form off the ない-stem; ことなく attaches to the dictionary form and feels slightly more emphatic/continuous.

More formal expressions

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