…
Breakdown of asagohan wo tabezuni gakkou ni ikimasita.
学校gakkou
school
にni
destination particle
行くiku
to go
をwo
direct object particle
食べるtaberu
to eat
朝ご飯asagohan
breakfast
〜ずに〜zuni
negative adverbial form
Questions & Answers about asagohan wo tabezuni gakkou ni ikimasita.
What is the function of 食べずに in this sentence?
食べずに is the negative conjunctive form of 食べる. It’s formed by taking the plain negative 食べない, dropping ない, and adding ずに. Together it means without eating.
How does ずに differ from ないで when expressing “without doing” something?
Both constructions mean “without doing”, but ずに is somewhat more formal or literary, while ないで is more common in everyday speech. You could say 朝ご飯を食べないで学校に行きました with identical meaning in casual conversation.
Why is there a に after 学校?
The particle に marks a destination or goal of movement. In 学校に行きました, に tells you “to school”—that is where the subject went.
Could the object marker を be omitted in 朝ご飯を食べずに?
In very casual speech you might drop を and say 朝ご飯食べずに, but it’s more standard and clearer to include を to mark 朝ご飯 as the direct object.
What’s the difference between 朝ご飯 and 朝食?
Both mean breakfast, but 朝ご飯 is more colloquial and common in conversation, while 朝食 is a bit more formal or used in writing.
Why is 行きました in the polite past form rather than the plain past?
行きました is the polite past of 行く. If you want a more casual tone, you could use the plain past 行った, as in 朝ご飯を食べずに学校に行った.
More from this lesson
AI Language TutorTry it ↗
“How do verb conjugations work in Japanese?”
Japanese verbs conjugate based on tense, politeness, and mood. For example, the polite present form adds ‑ます to the verb stem, while the past tense uses ‑ました. Unlike English, Japanese verbs don't change based on the subject — the same form works for "I", "you", and "they".
Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor
Start learning JapaneseMaster Japanese — from asagohan wo tabezuni gakkou ni ikimasita to fluency
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods.
- ✓ Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
- ✓ Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
- ✓ Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
- ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions