～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.
Structure
[Verb dictionary form] + ことなく
Examples
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'
• 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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