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JLPT N3Time Expressions

～ないうちに— Before It Happens

Means 'before ~ happens' or 'while ~ has not yet happened'. It signals doing something during the window before an (often undesirable) change occurs, so you act while conditions are still favorable. There is a nuance of taking advantage of the current state before it changes.

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Pro lessonUNIT 4 · TIME EXPRESSIONS

Structure · 形

[Verb ない-form] + うちに / [い-adj negative くない] + うちに / [Noun] + でない + うちに

Examples · 例文

  • 雨が降らないうちに帰りましょう。

    Ame ga furanai uchi ni kaerimashou.

    Let's go home before it starts raining.

    降らない (won't rain) + うちに means acting within the window before rain begins.

  • 忘れないうちにメモしておこう。

    Wasurenai uchi ni memo shite okou.

    Let me jot it down before I forget.

    忘れない (not yet forget) + うちに — do it while the memory is still there.

  • 暗くならないうちに家に着きたい。

    Kuraku naranai uchi ni ie ni tsukitai.

    I want to get home before it gets dark.

    暗くならない (won't get dark) + うちに expresses acting before the change to darkness.

Usage notes · 注意

  • Emphasizes acting before an unwanted or inconvenient change.
  • Contrast with the affirmative ～うちに ('while ~ still is'), e.g. 若いうちに.
  • The following clause is usually something you intend or should do.

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones ～ないうちに is tested against.

vsまえに

まえに is a neutral 'before' focused simply on sequence; ないうちに adds the nuance of acting within a closing window before an unwanted change.

vsうちに (affirmative)

Affirmative ～うちに (e.g. 明るいうちに) means 'while the good state still lasts'; ないうちに means 'before the state changes' from the negative side.

More time expressions

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