hi i was wondering why なくwas used in this sentence

例えば これが俺ではなく 葉山なら
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2020-09-27T10:54:48.637
80834
2020-09-27T15:12:17.463
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question
grammar word-choice
why did they use なく instead of ない
This is a sentence fragment, not a complete sentence. Since we’re missing the
context, the best I can suggest is that this is expressing

> for example, were it not me but Hayama

In これが俺ではなく, the くform here of ない lets you know that the speaker is in the
midst of expressing a partial idea completed by 葉山なら, but what’s being said
about 葉山 has not been expressed at all as far as we can tell without further
context.

footnote: I should add that my translation above is perhaps a bit too loose. A
more technically correct translation would be

> for example were it Hayama and not me...
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2020-09-27T12:13:56.747
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2020-09-27T15:12:17.463
2020-09-27T15:12:17.463
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answer