Page 305 - Makino,Tsutusi.DictionaryOfIntermediateJGrammar

nashi de wa 231

1. The compound particle nashi de wa is used to express a conditional "if
s.t. / s.0. is missing."
2. The particle nashi de wa usually appears with a negative predicate. The
predicate can be implicitly negative as in Ex.(c).
(1) a. *&hfz<ib42TL>1fbb (cf.Ex.(a))
-&h7'z<&+C-c'4>Gfbo
(Without you I can live a life.)

b. *%a& LTlb?&O+BB;kbO (cf. KS)
--%B<&?&O+G&B;k&.
(One can get along in society even without real talents.)

[Related ~xpressions]
I. Nashi de wa can be replaced by nashi ni wa in KS and Exs.(a), (b), (d),
and (e), but not in the other Exs. It seems that N nashi de wa is pre-
-
ferred in a context where N is used as a means of achieving something; ed
whereas N nashi ni wa is preferred in a context where the meaning of a
means of achieving something is weak. That is why in Exs.(c) and (f)
the original nashi de wa can hardly be replaced by nashi ni wa; the free
time is regarded as a means of enriching one's life in Ex.(c) and a car is
regarded definitely as a means of transportation in Ex.(f). In [I] below,
the same N "w8puro" is regarded as a means in [la] and not as such in
[lbl.
[I] a. 7-;PU (<U /?&LC=U) L>V~$%F&~~~L>,
(Without a word processor one cannot write a good paper.)
B&V= 8Sii d./rdc
b. 7-;Pu {≪:ib /?tb:LTitl X$W%C&4Rb;kts~>.
(One cannot think of writing activities without a word
processor.)
11. The adverbial phrase - nashi de wa can be rephrased by - ga nakereba
or by - ga i-nakereba. Thus, for example, KS and Ex.(a) can be rewrit-
ten into [2] and [3], respectively, without changing their basic meaning.