please don’t
Structure
- Verb[ない] + で + ください
[polite request not to]
Sorry if it is a stupid question with obvious answer, just do as it said in the book.
In before this lesson polite verb requests in my head worked like that with V[て]＋ください. But there are explicit 「で」 for negative verbs for some reason .
Verbs in nai-form look like and act a lot like i-adjectives (at least in my head). Then there is a te-form for i-adjectives. At least that’s what I got from Tae Kim’s Te-form_conjugation_rules.
So why is it 行かないでください instead of 行かなくてください.
Yes, I am aware that V[ない] and V[たい] have some peculiar properties and not 100% i-adjectives. But this grammar point just so unsettling to me, i couldn’t help but speak up 
ご清聴（せいちょう）ありがとうございました
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Hey @durtle9831
If you take a look at the structure it is Verb[ない] + で + ください
The で is separate from the verb and not related to the Verb[て] (I am guessing the confusion comes from 飲む・読む etc conjugating into 飲んで・読んで in the て form ?). I believe in this instance the で is actually the particle で and taking on the meaning of “in such a way”. So the literal translation for 行かないでください might be something along the lines of “please be in such a way as to not go/not be going”. Maybe @mrnoone can expand on it or correct me if I am wrong.
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Yep. And also the sequencing like
彼女は、きれいで、優しくて、頭もいいから、皆に人気がある。
Because she is pretty, gentle, and smart, (she’s) popular with everybody.
It never even crossed my mind that で is a particle here. Now it makes much more sense, thank you 
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So why is it 行かないでください instead of 行かなくてください.
You can think of it like this:
There are two alternativeて forms of ない that have a bit different uses.
The
Verbなくて example: 食べなくて (just like てform of adjective)
And verbないで example: 食べないで
ないで can be used only with verbs. なくて, on the other hand, can be used with nouns, adjectives and verbs.
But if なくて is used with a verb (not in fixed expression) it has to express reason or cause. (ないで doesn’t have this requirement, also when なくて is used with nouns and adjectives it simply means “not, and/ is not…, but”)
**In other words, if you simply want to say: “not and” for verbs your default choice is ないで and for adjectives and nouns なくて。If you want to state a reason/cause then you can use なくて. (though it is usually used in certain fixed contexts, more here, in other cases から and ので are better)
ないで and なくて have their own set expressions in which they sound natural:
ないで is the only one that is used with auxiliaries like ください、ほしい、おく。
それをしないでください、
Plesae, do not do that.
それを言わないでほしい。
I do not want you to say that.
パスタはあるから買わないでおいた。
Because I have pasta, I didn’t buy it (in preparation for something).
なくて is preferred in:
Verbなくて+ すみません (though ないですみません is more or less acceptable)
なくてもいい - don’t have to (like above, ないでもいい is also more or less acceptable instead)
忙いそがしいなら、行いか なくてもいい です。
If you are busy, then you don’t have to go.
Or なくては(いけない/ならない) (cannot be rephrased to ないで)
朝ごはんを食べなくてはいけない
You have to eat breakfast.
There is also another expression, ずに, which is formal version of ないで (and like ないで cannot be used with nouns and adjectives).
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Yes! Thank you for your in depth explanation. Now it really makes the whole picture come together.
This phrase. With a double negation. Honestly I’m speechless, it is amazing.
Upd. Actually I came across this exact grammar on Wanikani not even a day after 
そろそろ草を刈らなくてはなりません。
You have to cut the grass soon.
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Brace yourself. There are a ton of BunPro grammar points coming your way soon that mean ‘must/have to do’. Get ready to embrace the double negatives!
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There is actually a really similar grammar point that explains the thing i got confused about in a broader application. Hope this helps someone.
I often get this grammar point wrong ないでください
て+は+いけません
Is the construction I use.
I am saying you mustn’t play soccer here if I understand it correctly.
And it is still polite.
What am I missing here?