Why this negative form ends in く?


This is the sentence:

> 彼は英語を勉強したことがなく、アルファベットさえ読めない

I would write something like:

> 彼は英語を勉強したことがないのでアルファベットさえ読めない

I understand that you don't necessarily need ので, but why does it terminate the
negative form in く rather than leaving as it should be? For any reason he
wanted to convert it into adverb?




It's the continuative form (連用形) of i-adjectives (形容詞). It's the same as the
て形 in this case. It is just that in formal writing the rule is to use 連用形
instead of て形.

