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My understanding of ありませんと is that it is an abbreviated form of ありませんと(だめ/いけない/ならない), but the formal ません throws me off. I was under the impression that the formal part should be always the last one, so it should be ないと(だめです/いけません/なりません). Is it possible that abbreviation moves the formality before と? Are the following interpretations possible?

... must be

... must have something

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    You will get a better answer (and do so more quickly) if you told us in what context you found ありませんと.
    – user4032
    Jan 15, 2017 at 4:15
  • I heard it over the radio at the end of the sentence. Unfortunately I did not catch the beginning. Can it be viewed as a general formula: statement + ありませんと?
    – user1602
    Jan 15, 2017 at 6:06

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It would help to know the context, and I'm not confident with this answer, but here goes. You may know that ~ないと, ~なくては(なくちゃ), and ~なければ(なきゃ)are often used as shorthand for ~ないとだめ et cetera. In ありませんと, ~ませんと basically acts as shorthand for ~ないとだめです - being explicitly polite while still cutting off the ending.

Also, you really should know this, but the negative of ある is simply ない, not あらない or anything.

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  • The argument about ない vs. ならない is valid only in the context of 標準語 (standard Japanese)
    – user1602
    Jan 16, 2017 at 0:16
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    @BouzuHarinezumi ^ では、「あらない」は、どの地域で使われる方言ですか?
    – chocolate
    Jan 16, 2017 at 15:40

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