ともなく
- 1Doing an action idly or half-consciously, without really intending to (e.g. half-watching, half-listening).Ex. 1
- 2Doing something with no particular place, person, time, or origin in mind, used with a question word.Ex. 2
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A literary pattern found mainly in fiction, essays, and descriptive writing. It typically occurs with verbs of perception, thought, or speech (見る, 聞く, 考える, 言う) to depict idle, unfocused actions. With a question word, it conveys that no specific destination, addressee, time, or origin is identified.
Note that in the first sense the same verb is normally repeated after ともなく, as in 見るともなく見る.
Learners sometimes take ともなく to mean the action did not happen; the action does occur, just without clear intent.
Do not use ともなく with deliberate, goal-directed actions such as studying hard for an exam.
- ともなると / ともなればN1「ともなると／ともなれば」attaches to nouns expressing status, time periods, and the like, or to a verb's dictionary form, meaning 'once (one) reaches ..., then ...'; 「ともなく」instead marks an unintentional action or an unclear target. The two merely look alike and cannot be interchanged.
- ともすればN1「ともすれば」is an adverb placed at the start of a sentence or before the predicate, meaning that if you're not careful you can easily slip into a bad tendency; 「ともなく」attaches to a verb's dictionary form or a question word for unintentional actions or unclear targets. Alike in form but far apart in meaning, they cannot be interchanged.
- ことなくN2「ことなく」indicates that something is not done or doesn't happen (「休むことなく」= 'without resting even once'); with 「ともなく」the action does happen, just unintentionally, and it can also take a question word. Both attach to the dictionary form and are somewhat literary, but they cannot be interchanged.
- なしにN2「なしに」attaches to nouns and means 'without ...'; 「ともなく」attaches to a verb's dictionary form or a question word for unintentional actions or unclear targets, and is somewhat literary. The variant 「ともなしに」differs in meaning from 「なしに」, so the two cannot be interchanged.
- とっさにN1「とっさに」stresses an instant, instinctive reaction in a sudden situation when there is no time to think, and its register is neutral; the verb usage of 「ともなく」describes doing something with no clear intention, absentmindedly, followed by the same or a similar verb, and is somewhat literary. The two cannot be interchanged.
Unlike ことなく and なしに, which mean the action does not take place ("without doing"), ともなく means the action happens but without intent. ともなると/ともなれば ("once it comes to X") and ともすれば ("be apt to") are unrelated despite their similar form, and とっさに describes an instant reflexive reaction, not idle, unfocused behavior.
