The preposition without means ‘not having something’ or ‘lacking something’:
I can’t drink tea without milk.
I found myself in a strange country, without money and with no one to turn to.
When without is followed by a singular countable noun, we use a/an:
Don’t go out without a hat. It’s very cold.
Not: Don’t go without hat.
Without + -ing form can also mean ‘if someone does not do something’:
I couldn’t get the picture out of the frame without breaking the glass. (if I did not break the glass)
We don’t omit the indefinite article a/an after without + singular countable noun:
How can you live without a telephone nowadays?
Not: … without telephone …
We don’t use without to mean ‘apart from’ or ‘in addition to’:
Apart from my mother tongue, I can speak two other languages.
Not: Without my mother-tongue …
Without has a negative meaning. We don’t use another negative word immediately after it:
The flight was delayed and we had to wait for five hours without anything to eat or drink.
Not: … without nothing to eat or drink.
