What is the difference, for example, between 衰えることない and 衰えない?
More generally, what is the difference between
- Infinitive Verb + ことない
and
- Verb Stem + ない (i.e. the negative form of the verb)
?
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1 Answer
衰えることない is usually understood as a colloquial shortened form of 衰えることはない, and this type of ことはない has its own nuance.
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ことはない is an expression that has two primary purposes in Japanese. To convey that there is 'no need for (A)', or that '(A) never happens'. In these cases, (A) is a verb that will appear directly before こと.
So 衰えることはない is used to carry a sense of firm negation, like "(You may be worrying about its/his/her decay, but no worries,) that won't happen". 衰える expresses an undesirable event, so "no need for decaying" usually makes no sense. On the other hand, 衰えない is a simple negative form of 衰える.
こと(は)ない in the sense of "no need" is typically used like this:
謝ることないでしょ？
You don't need to apologize, do you?
