In my textbook Multimedia Exercises for Basic Japanese Grammar I came across
this example sentence and I was completely puzzled:

> これは、かぜをひかないためのサプリメントです。

All I have studied and read so far emphasized ため cannot be used with negative
sentences, actually I had read an example that used 風邪をひかないように。。。

Why is ため used in this example? I googled to see if there were similar uses
with negative verbs and got one Japanese page with this:
忙しい人たちの風邪をひかないためのTIPSをリサーチ.

Is it being used because of the の particle after ため? I'm very confused.
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2021-11-17T23:29:20.927
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question
grammar
Use of ため with a negative verb in this sentence
ため here is nothing special — just used in its most common meaning, "for the
purpose of;" "the sake of."

Your sentence can be translated as follows:

これは、 **かぜをひかないため** のサプリメントです。  
This is the supplement **for the sake of not catching a cold**.

Since ため is a noun, it's followed with の. Again, nothing special. (The
supplement for this sake; **this sake's** supplement)

風邪をひかないように, on the other hand, is an adverbial phrase. It roughly means "In a
way of not catching a cold," and does not quite fit the context here.

If you're asking about ため with negative verbs, then it's simple — just use
negative verbs as you would use positive verbs.

風邪を引くため  
風邪を引かないため

Grammatically though, negative verbs of this sort (ending in ない) are actually
い-adjectives, and because ため is a noun, then 引かないため and いい人 and 強い風 are all
structurally equivalent (い-adj + noun).
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2021-11-18T02:16:05.507
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answer
As you suggest, the following sentence does sound awkward.

> かぜをひかない **ために** 、このサプリメントを飲んでいます。

The reason is that かぜをひかない is not something you actively do, and therefore,
not suitable as a purpose.

The sentence below with ように, which denotes a desired state rather than a
purpose, sounds much more natural.

> かぜをひかない **ように** 、このサプリメントを飲んでいます。

If you still need to use ため, you should insert する as below so that the
adverbial clause describes what you actively do to achieve a desired state,
rather than the desired state itself.

> かぜをひかない **ようにするために** 、このサプリメントを飲んでいます。

However, this distinction becomes less strict in a noun-modifying clause
making かぜをひかない **ため** のサプリメント much more acceptable, although some might find
it a bit informal and still prefer かぜをひかない **ようにするため** のサプリメント.
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answer