ずに details

write + without doing

kaka zu ni

without doing

meaning: without writing

彼かれは誰だれにも相談せそうだんせずに、会社かいしゃを辞やめてしまった。

kare wa dare ni mo soudanse zu ni, kaisha o yamete shimatta.

He quit the company without consulting anyone. neutral

危険物きけんぶつは持もち込こまずに、会場かいじょうへお入はいりください。

kikenbutsu wa mochikomazu ni, kaijou e o hairi kudasai.

Please enter the venue without carrying in any hazardous items. formal

literary

Examples

without doing X — the written/formal register default for a negative side-circumstance

彼かれは誰だれにも相談そうだんせずに、会社かいしゃを辞やめてしまった。

kare wa dare ni mo soudansezuni, kaisha o yamete shimatta.

He quit the company without consulting anyone. neutral

危険物きけんぶつは持もち込こまずに、会場かいじょうへお入はいりください。

kikenbutsu wa mochikomazu ni, kaijou e o hairi kudasai.

Please enter the venue without carrying in any hazardous items. formal

少年しょうねんは振ふり返かえらず、まっすぐ歩あるき続つづけた。

shounen wa furikaerazu, massugu arukitsuzuketa.

The boy didn't look back, and kept walking straight ahead. formal

Formation

{V-zu-stem}ずにattaches to ず-stem

Variant notes

ず — に drops mid-clause in terse literary narration — 気[き]づかず立[た]ち去[さ]った。

Notes

Rides the classical stem — する→せずに (never ×しずに); あらずに is
classical-only (にあらず), so ある is excluded here. Bare ず (no に) is the
more literary variant, common in narration.

Related patterns

Similar

ないで
ないで dominates casual conversation; ずに is the written default — though it turns up unmarked even in fixed collocations (知[し]らずに、気[き]づかずに), so the split is a skew, not an absolute one.