Expressing "not at all" with "yidianr ye bu"

Sometimes we may want to say something is "not even the least bit [adjective]." For example, we might say in English: "I am not at all hungry." In Chinese, we can use 一点也不 (yīdiǎnr yě bù) or 一点都不 (yīdiǎnr dōu bù) to express "not at all"

一点也/都不 with an adjective

The phrases "一点也不" (or 一点儿也不) and "一点都不" (or 一点儿都不) can both be used to express "not at all."

Subject + 一点也/都 + 不 + Adjective

Examples

• 你 一点 也 不 性感。You're not even a little bit sexy.
• 他的朋友 一点 都 不 可爱。His friend is not cute at all.
• 我的同事一点 都 不 幽默。My colleague is not humorous at all.

一点也/都不 with a verb

This describes the subject as being "not at all adjective" or "not even slightly adjective". Psychological verbs can also appear in place of the adjective in this structure.

Subject + 一点也/都 + 不 + Verb

Examples

• 他 一点 也 不 喜欢 啤酒。He doesn't like beer even a little bit.
• 你 一点 也 不 会 说 吗？You can't even speak a little?
• 她 好像 一点 都 不 知道 这 件 事。She doesn't seem to know even a little about this.
• 我 一点 也 不 习惯熬夜。I’m not used to staying up late at all.

一点也/都不 with 没

The phrases "一点也没 " and "一点都没 " can also be used to express "not at all ." This is used when the statement uses or implies the verb negative form of 有　in　the past.

Subject + 一点都/也 + 没 + Verb

Examples

• 我 一点 也 没 生气。I didn't get even a little bit angry.
• 宝宝 打针 的 时候 一点 都 没 哭。The baby didn't even cry a little when it got the shot.
• 今天 她 一点 也 没 吃东西。She didn't even eat a little today.
• 工作 虽然 很累，但 他 一点 都 没 抱怨。Although the job was tiring，he didn't even complain a bit.

Sources and further reading

Books

• Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (pp. 36-7) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (pp. 37- 9) →buy

HSK4