Page 244 - Basic Japanese

(Another way to say ‘instead’ is to use two full sentences,

with the second beginning sono kawari (ni) ‘instead of that,’ as
in Hon wa kawanakatta desu. Sono kawari ni zasshi o kaimashita. ‘He

didn’t buy books; instead, he bought magazines.’) Here are
some examples where -(a)zu ni means ‘without’:

朝ごはんを食べずに家を出た。
Asa go-han o tabezu ni ie o deta.

He left home without having breakfast.

よく確認せずに請求書を送ってしまった。

Yoku kakunin sezu ni seikyūsho o okutte shimatta.
Without checking it carefully, I mailed out the
bill.

5.13. Imperfect negative + de …ないで …nai

de

Instead of using -(a)zu ni to say ‘instead of doing’ or ‘without

doing,’ you can use the plain imperfect negative -(a)nai +
the copula gerund de ‘being.’ This construction is also

sometimes used with kudasai in direct negative requests:

Amari hanasanai de kudasai ‘Please don’t talk too much.’

大阪に行かないで岡山に行った。

Ōsaka ni ikanai de Okayama ni itta.
Instead of going to Osaka, he went to Okayama.

朝ごはんを食べないで急いで家を出た。
Asa go-han o tabenai de isoide ie o deta.
He left home in a rush without having breakfast.

ここでタバコを吸わないでください。