Chinese Grammar: Different ways of expressing “let alone.”

As in the last lesson, we’ve learned the structure 连...都/也 to emphasize a specific situation when you express your determination. You can furthermore communicate your confidence by using these sentence patterns to express “let alone”.

“Let alone” with 别 说

For most situation, you can use 别 说 to express “let alone”. You can also consider it as “don’t think about” or “leaving it aside” in English to help you understand it well.

Structure

别 说 + A + ， + (就)连 + B + 都/也 + Verb

Examples

别 说 做饭 ， 就 连 吃饭 我 都 不想。
Don’t even think about cooking, I don’t even want to eat.

别 说 是 他 ， 连 你我 都 不 太 了解。
Let alone him, I don’t even know you well.

别 说 英文 ， 就 连 中文 我 也 会 说。
Don’t even mention English, I can speak Chinese.

别 说 是 三 个 小时 ， 连 一 天 我 也 愿意 等。
Not to mention three hours, even one day I am willing to wait.

“Let alone” with 更 不用 说

更 不用 说 also can mean “let alone”, but it is a reverse side of 别 说. You can find that its structure order is totally opposite of 别 说.

Structure

连 + A + 都/也 + Verb + , + 更 不用 说 + B + 了

Examples

我 连 饭 都 不想 吃 ， 更 不用 说 做饭 了。 I don’t even want to eat, let alone to cook.

连 你我 都 不 太 了解 ， 更 不用 说 他 了。
I don’t know you well, not to mention him.

连 中文 我 也 会 说 ， 更 不用 说 英文 了。
I can even speak Chinese, not to mention English.

连 一 天 我 也 能 等 ， 更 不用 说 三 小时 了。
I can even wait for a day, not to mention 3 hours.

“Let alone” with 何况

何况 can be used in two situations. One is in a question form with a question tag 呢, the other one is in an exclamatory sentence with an exclamation.

Structure

连 + A + 都 + (不/没) + Verb + , + 何况 + B + 呢?

Examples

你 连 一块 钱 都 没有 ， 何况 一 百 块 钱 呢？
You don’t even have one yuan, how could you have 100 yuans?

连 小孩 儿 都 知道 ， 何况 你 呢？
Even a kid knows that, how could you not know?

Structure

(连) + A + 都 ... + 何况 + B!

Examples

他 都 来 三次 了 还 知道 路 ， 何况 你 是 第一次 来！
He has come here three times already, and still can't find his way around, how do you expect to do so on, especially on your first time!

连 这么 难 的 题 我 都 会， 何况 这么 简单 的！
Even I can solve these difficult problems, not to mention these simple things!

If you want to add a further emphasis in addition to 何况, add a 更 before it to strengthen the extent.