▎一點也不 V, (yìdiǎn yĕ bù V), emphatic negation

 

Function This pattern suggests strong and exaggerated negation, something like ‘not at all...’, ‘definitely not’, or ‘not a bit...’ in English.

1 A：你要坐公車去嗎？坐公車去故宮博物院比較慢。

Nǐ yào zuò gōngchē qù ma? Zuò gōngchē qù Gùgōng Bówùyuàn bǐjiào màn.

Are you going there by bus? Taking the bus to the Palace Museum is slower.

B：一點也不慢，比捷運方便。

Yìdiǎn yě bú màn, bǐ jiéyùn fāngbiàn.

It is not at all slow. It is easier than taking the MRT.

2 A：他喝茶嗎？

Tā hē chá ma?

Does he drink tea?

B：他一點茶也不喝。

Tā yìdiǎn chá yě bù hē.

No. He doesn’t drink tea at all.

3 夜市的東西一點也不貴。

Yèshì de dōngxi yìdiǎn yě bú guì.

The things sold at the night market are not expensive at all. (Contrary to what people told me.)

4 已經晚上12點多了，他們一點也不想睡覺。

Yǐjīng wǎnshàng shí’èrdiǎn duō le, tāmen yìdiǎn yě bù xiǎng shuìjiào.

It’s past 12 o’clock at night, but they are not at all sleepy.

 

Structures This is a negative pattern, without a positive counterpart. The pattern can be used with action verbs or state verbs. The adverb 也 can be replaced by 都dōu. If an object is not fronted to the beginning of the sentence to be the topic, it has to appear after the adverb 一點, before and not after the verb.

1 他昨天一點飯都沒吃。 （＊他昨天一點都沒吃飯。）

Tā zuótiān yìdiǎn fàn dōu méi chī. (＊Tā zuótiān yìdiǎn dōu méi chīfàn.)

He didn’t eat anything at all yesterday.

2 我一點湯也沒喝。 （＊我一點也沒喝湯。）

Wǒ yìdiǎn tāng yě méi hē. (＊Wǒ yìdiǎn yě méi hē tāng.)

I didn’t drink any soup at all.

Questions：

1 這種手機是不是一點也不好用？所以沒人買。

Zhè zhǒng shǒujī shìbúshì yìdiǎn yě bù hǎoyòng? Suǒyǐ méi rén mǎi.

This cell phone is not at all user-friendly? No wonder nobody buys it.

2 他生病這幾天一點東西都沒吃嗎？

Tā shēngbìng zhè jǐ tiān yìdiǎn dōngxi dōu méi chī ma?

Did he not eat anything during these last few days that he was sick?

3 他身體不好，是不是一點酒都不能喝？

Tā shēntǐ bù hǎo, shìbúshì yìdiǎn jiǔ dōu bù néng hē?

He’s not well. He should not drink at all?

 

Usage

(1) 也 in this pattern is replaceable by 都.

1 我一點都不累。

Wǒ yìdiǎn dōu bú lèi.

I’m not tired at all.

2 捷運車票一點都不貴。

Jiéyùn chēpiào yìdiǎn dōu bú guì.

MRT ticket fares are not expensive at all.

3 他一點都不想去。

Tā yìdiǎn dōu bù xiǎng qù.

He does not feel like going at all.

(2) In some case, 都 provides a stronger sense of total negation than 也.

1 我剛剛一點西班牙文也/都沒說。

Wǒ gānggāng yìdiǎn Xībānyáwén yě/dōu méi shuō.

I didn’t speak any Spanish at all just now.

2 王先生生病了，所以最近一點事也/都沒做。

Wáng xiānshēng shēngbìng le, suǒyǐ zuìjìn yìdiǎn shì yě/dōu méi zuò.

Mr. Wang fell ill, so he hasn’t gotten anything done recently.

(3) The use of 也 has a higher frequency of occurrence than 都.