What it means
ともなく expresses an action performed without a clear intention, conscious focus, or specific purpose. It most commonly appears as VるともなくVている or VるともなくVる, often with the same verb repeated: the first occurrence presents the action as unintentional, while the second describes what actually continued or occurred. The construction is literary and relatively formal, and it often describes passive observation or an action that happens almost absent-mindedly.
Usage note
ともなく is not normally used as a simple replacement for an ordinary negative expression such as “without doing.” The repeated-verb pattern is especially common, and politeness is marked by the predicate at the end of the sentence rather than by changing ともなく itself.
How to use it
彼女は、見るともなく窓の外を見ていました。
She was looking out the window without really thinking about it.
彼女は、見るともなく窓の外を見ていた。
She was looking out the window without really thinking about it.
Example sentences
雨音を聞くともなく聞いているうちに、いつの間にか眠ってしまった。
While listening to the sound of the rain without really thinking about it, I fell asleep before I knew it.
古い写真を眺めるともなく眺めていたら、裏面に祖父の筆跡を見つけた。
As I was gazing absentmindedly at an old photograph, I found my grandfather's handwriting on the back.
駅前の