▎不說, bùshuō, in S1 不說，S2 也yĕ, not merely, but also (complaining)

 

Function This pattern is used to indicate a complaint about two issues, the second of which is more serious than the first.

1 那個地方吵不說，環境也很複雜。

Nà ge dìfāng chǎo bùshuō, huánjìng yě hěn fùzá.

Aside from the fact that the place is noisy, it’s also a bit seedy.

2 他現在的工作是推銷產品。薪水低不說，也很辛苦。

Tā xiànzài de gōngzuò shì tuīxiāo chǎnpǐn. Xīnshuǐ dī bùshuō, yě hěn xīnkǔ.

His current job is selling products. The low salary aside, it’s hard work.

3 那家店賣的商品種類少不說，價錢也很貴，難怪客人不多。

Nà jiā diàn mài de shāngpǐn zhǒnglèi shǎo bùshuō, jiàqián yě hěn guì, nánguài kèrén bù duō.

That shop has poor selection, not to mention high prices. It’s no wonder they don’t have many customers.

4 小林最近常遲到不說，功課也不寫。他怎麼了？

Xiǎo Lín zuìjìn cháng chídào bùshuō, gōngkè yě bù xiě. Tā zěnme le?

Xiao Lin has been late a lot recently; not to mention, he hasn’t been doing his homework. What’s up with him?

5 週年慶的時候，擠死了不說，也常常因為便宜買了一些沒有用的東西回家。

Zhōuniánqìng de shíhòu, jǐ sǐle bùshuō, yě chángcháng yīnwèi piányí mǎile yìxiē méi yǒu yòng de dōngxi huíjiā.

During anniversary sales the stores are overcrowded; not to mention, you often buy and bring home a lot of useless things just because they’re cheap.

 

Usage Both ‘S1 不說，S2 也’ and ‘不但 A，還 B’ patterns are incremental, i.e., they add one fact on top of another, but the latter can be used with either positive or negative instances, whereas the former can only be used in the negative. E.g., you can say: 他不但成績好，還很熱心 (Tā búdàn chéngjī hǎo, hái hěn rèxīn) ‘His grades are not only good, he is also very enthusiastic.’, but ＊他成績好不說，也很熱心 (＊Tā chéngjī hǎo bùshuō, yě hěn rèxīn) isn’t good Chinese.