Chinese grammar: Nowhere, noone

Nowhere, noone, nothing

To express negation such as NOBODY, NOTHING, NOWHERE, NOT EVEN A LITTLE, NOT EVEN ONE… we use a special construction…

Let´s see how it works on simple examples:

我什么都不要。

<Wǒ shénme dōu bú yào.>

I what dou not to want.

I DON’T WANT ANYTHING.

我谁都不认识。

<Wǒ shuí dōu bú rènshi.>

I who dou not to know.

I DON’T KNOW ANYBODY.

我哪儿都不去。

<Wǒ nǎ’er dōu bú qù.>

I where duo not to go.

I DON’T GO ANYWHERE.

Principles:

integral and inevitable part of this construction is a word 都 <dōu> (in some cases better to use 也 <yě>)

changed word order (subject-verb-object doesn´t work here), verb is in the end.

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Construction can be extended:

1. Question word and 都 <dōu>or 也 <yě> are like two pillars. Another word can be put in between them:

他什么问题都没有。

<Tā shénme wèntí dōu méiyǒu.>

He what problem dou not to have.

HE DOESN’T HAVE ANY PROBLEM.

2. Instead of question words we can use:

一点 <yīdiǎn> A BIT

一个 <yīge> ONE (we can of course use other measure word, not just 个 )

我一个中国朋友也没有。

<Wǒ yīge Zhōngguó péngyǒu yě méiyǒu.>

I one Chinese friend ye not to have.

I DON’T HAVE EVEN ONE CHINESE FRIEND. (Instead of <dōu> we used <yě>)

你一点也不要吗?

<Nǐ yīdiǎn yě búyào ma?>

You a bit ye not to want ma?

YOU DON’T WANT EVEN A LITTLE BIT?

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Third chapter of storyline about Kif Gren is dedicated to this theme…