Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar (DoBJG) said that both ないで and なくて is
used to express the idea that a negative statement is a reason for another
statement. To paraphrase,

> II. ないで **can be replaced** by なくて only when the ないで clause indicates some
> cause for human emotion which is expressed in the main clause. Otherwise,
> the なくて version is unacceptable, as in [5]. (DoBJG pg. 273)

> 朝七時に起きられ **なくて** / **ないで** / **なかったから** / **なかったので** 会社に遅れました。
>
> The most direct presentation of the cause-effect relation is **なかったから** ,
> and the presentation becomes more indirect in the following order:
> **なかったので** , **ないで** and **なくて**. (DoBJG pg. 280)

However, [Wasabi](https://www.wasabi-jpn.com/japanese-grammar/negative-
sequential-and-parallel-actions/#3) seems to contradict what DoBJG said,

> Be careful; you cannot use ないで and ずに in this context.

Which of the sources above is more correct? Can I use ないで and ずに for
expressing reasons?
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grammar nuances
Can you use ないで and ずに for expressing reasons?
朝七時に起きられ **ずに** 会社に遅れました sounds a bit awkward to me, but it still seems
acceptable.

朝七時に起きられ **ないで** 会社に遅れました sounds very weird.
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2021-06-14T02:42:35.483
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I had the same question after reading DoBJG, Wasabi JPN and even this [日本語の森
video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bxhKYTsKYQ&t=641s).  
What helped me the most, was this explanation I found
[here](https://wildnihongo.com/grammar/nakute/):

> なくて connects a negative clause ending with ない to a main clause (via the
> negative て-Form), and it expresses the cause or reason for the action or
> state expressed in the main clause. This cause / effect relationship is
> relatively weak compared to phrases such as ないから and ないので.  
>
>
>   * E.g. 先生{せんせい}の説明{せつめい}がわからなくて困{こま}りました。 _I didn’t understand the
> teacher’s explanation, so I was troubled._ In this example, not
> understanding the teacher’s explanation is the cause, and being troubled is
> the effect. This relationship is fairly indirect (i.e. not understanding
> didn’t necessarily directly cause the speaker to become troubled, but it at
> least contributed / led to the speaker becoming troubled.)
>

>
> If there is no causal relationship between Sentence 1 and Sentence 2, ないで is
> generally a better choice than なくて to connect the clauses in a neutral
> manner. ないで does not have a causal implication.  
>
>
>   * E.g. 田中{たなか}さんは大阪{おおさか}に行{い}かないで京都{きょうと}に行{い}った。 _Mr. Tanaka didn’t go
> to Osaka; he went to Kyoto._ Since this sentence does not express a causal
> relationship between Sentence 1 and Sentence 2, ないで is more appropriate than
> なくて.
>

Apparently it all comes down to the causality. If there is a causal
relationship between the 2 clauses なくて is used, if not ないで may be used. Wanted
to share with you as it was useful to me and I was really confused.
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