The structures 一…都不/没… and 一…也不/没…
We can use the structures 一…都不/没… and 一…也不/没… to say phrases like: "to have no chance", "don't have any money" or "didn't have a bite".
The structures / and / are used to indicate that there is a small amount or absolute absence of something. These structures are used in the same way. They mean “to have no...” ,“not at all...”.
In a sentence, the subject is placed before "一", and a predicate is placed after the structure. The predicate can be expressed by either an adjective or a verb.
Scheme
measure word
object
也/都
不/没
predicate
Examples
块钱也没有!
I don't have any money
yí kuài qián yě méi yǒu
我吃饱了,勺蛋糕也不想吃
I'm full. I can't eat another bite
wǒ chībǎo le, yì sháo dàngāo yě bù xiǎng chī
杯酒也没喝!
He didn't drink a drop!
tā yì bēi jiǔ yě méi hē
An object can be omitted if it has already been mentioned before. However, a measure word cannot be omitted.
Examples
你有吗?—— 都没
Do you have a pen? — No, I don't
nǐ yǒu bǐ ma? — yì zhī dōu méi yǒu
An object can be placed at the beginning of a sentence if it is the main focus of the sentence.
Examples
酒吧我都没
I've never been to a bar
jiǔbā wǒ yí cì dōu méi qù
香蕉我也不想吃
I don't want to eat bananas
xiāngjiāo wǒ yì gēn yě bù xiǎng chī
If we want to make a negative sentence, we should use the negative adverbs 不 or 没. Read more about how to use the negative adverbs 不 and 没 here ↓
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