に（も）なく (ni mo naku)

Meaning & usage

に(も)なく follows nouns that express a standard for comparison, such as 例年になく or いつになく, and modifies the predicate that comes after it. It means that state or action is unusual for that standard, stronger than normal, or out of character for the person. われにもなく is limited to the speaker describing their own unexpected behavior. The pattern is common in both speech and writing, and なく is normally written in hiragana.

Example sentences 5

1. 例年れいねんになく寒さむい冬ふゆだそうですね。

   I hear that you are having an unusually cold winter.

2. 今日は、これまでになく寒い。

   Today's the coldest day we've ever had.

3. その冬は例年になく暖かかった。

   That winter was unusually mild.

4. 昨夜は、いつになく寒かった。

   It was unusually cold last night.

5. これまでになく絶好調です。

   I've never been better.