0

This is the sentence:

彼は英語を勉強したことがなく、アルファベットさえ読めない

I would write something like:

彼は英語を勉強したことがないのでアルファベットさえ読めない

I understand that you don't necessarily need ので, but why does it terminate the negative form in く rather than leaving as it should be? For any reason he wanted to convert it into adverb?

Eddie Kal
  • 11,332
  • 5
  • 19
  • 40
kuonb
  • 633
  • 1
  • 4
  • 10
  • Possible duplicate of [いAdjective. difference between くて and く](http://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/3439/%e3%81%84adjective-difference-between-%e3%81%8f%e3%81%a6-and-%e3%81%8f) – 永劫回帰 Jan 20 '16 at 11:17

2 Answers2

1

It's the continuative form (連用形) of i-adjectives (形容詞). It's the same as the て形 in this case. It is just that in formal writing the rule is to use 連用形 instead of て形.

永劫回帰
  • 6,983
  • 1
  • 21
  • 49
1

There's no causal link between the two sentences. It just simply says, "He hasn't studied English; he can't even read the alphabet."

There's no particular reason to assume an inability to speak English would entail a lack of knowledge about the alphabet.

A.Ellett
  • 7,806
  • 1
  • 17
  • 23
  • But in that case, why the sentences ends in く? what rule is that? I would just write it as if they were two different sentences, so I would terminate it in ない. – kuonb Jan 20 '16 at 09:09