Difference between revisions of "Expressing "let alone" with "geng buyong shuo""

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{{Basic Grammar|连|B2|……,更不用说……|她 会 说 法语 , <em>更 不用 说</em> 英语 了 。|grammar point|ASGHOI8S}}
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Revision as of 09:06, 20 October 2016

更不用说 (gèng bùyòng shuō) means "let alone", and is used in the same way as the English, where we might say: "he can't even boil an egg, let alone prepare a banquet"

Structure

连 + A + 都/也 + Verb, 更不用说 + B + 了

Notice that the order used in this pattern is the opposite to the 别说 structure.

Examples

  • 他 都 不 会 煮 鸡蛋, 更不用说 做 一 大 桌子 的 菜 了。He can't boil an egg, let alone prepare a banquet.
  • 他 连 自己 国家 的 国旗 都 不 认识, 更不用说 其他 国家 的 了。He can't even recognize his own country's flag, not to mention any other countries' flags.
  • 他 从来 没有 出 过 远门, 更不用说 出国 了。He's never traveled very far, let alone out of the country.

Unless the first action is negated with 没有, using 更不用说 generally requires using 了 to emphasize that the speaker is adding his/her own comment.

See also

Sources and Further Reading

HSK5