～ことなしに
without ever doing
～ことなしに is a formal pattern made from the dictionary form of a verb plus ことなしに. It states that something happens, or very often cannot happen, without the first action ever taking place.
In English it corresponds to “without doing...”. It is the stiff, written cousin of ～ないで and ～ずに, and it frequently pairs with a negative potential in the main clause to express “you cannot achieve Y without X”.
1. “Cannot... without...” statements
The most typical use: the main clause is a negative potential, and ～ことなしに names the unavoidable cost or precondition.
犠牲にすることなしに、改革は進められない。
“The reform cannot proceed without making sacrifices.”
- 犠牲にする（ぎせいにする）= to sacrifice
- ことなしに = without doing
- 改革（かいかく）= reform
- は = topic marker
- 進められない（すすめられない）= cannot be advanced
2. Doing something without a step that would normally happen
～ことなしに can also report, in a formal register, that someone acted while skipping a step that would normally be expected.
彼は誰にも相談することなしに、会社を辞めた。
“He quit the company without consulting anyone.”
- 彼（かれ）= he
- は = topic marker
- 誰にも（だれにも）= (not) to anyone
- 相談する（そうだんする）= to consult
- ことなしに = without doing
- 会社（かいしゃ）= company
- を = object marker
- 辞めた（やめた）= quit
Unlike everyday ～ないで or ～ずに, ～ことなしに belongs to essays, speeches, and formal writing, and it foregrounds the omitted action as a weighty condition rather than a casual detail.
How to form it
Verb dictionary form + ことなしに
- 犠牲にする（ぎせいにする）= to sacrifice → 犠牲にすることなしに（ぎせいにすることなしに）= without sacrificing
- 相談する（そうだんする）= to consult → 相談することなしに（そうだんすることなしに）= without consulting
- 休む（やすむ）= to rest → 休むことなしに（やすむことなしに）= without resting
Key idea
～ことなしに formally rules out the first action: nothing in the main clause happens with it. Remember the classic frame “X することなしに Y できない”, no Y without X.
Built on the same stem
Updated .