Negation: emphasising

When we want to emphasise something negative, we often useat all. We normally useat allimmediately after the word or phrase we are emphasising:

There’snothingat allleft in the fridge.

I’d rathernotbe hereat all.

We hadnorainat allthis summer and now we have floods!

Not at allcan come before an adjective:

She wasnot at allhappy with the result.

We can also usewhatsoeverfor emphasis afterno +noun,nobody, no one, noneandnothing. Its meaning is similar toat all, but it is stronger. We can usewhatsoeverto add emphasis to any negative noun phrase:

Nofood or drinkwhatsoevermust be brought into the classroom.

A:

Did any of her family go to the wedding?

B:

No.None whatsoever.

We can also usenot a bit,a little bit,one bit,in the least,the least bitto emphasise negatives:

Setting off the alarm was supposed to be a joke butno onefound itone bitfunny.

We suggested going to the cinema but they didn’tseemthe least bitinterested, so we just took them shopping instead.

We often add emphasis to negation to make what we say more polite. When someone makes a request using the phraseDo you mind iforWould you mind if, instead of replying withNo(I don’t mind) we often saynot at allornot in the leastwhen we reply:

A:

Do you mind if I sit here?

B:

Not at all.

A:

Would you mind if I check my emails on your computer?

B:

Not in the least.

When someone saysthanksorthank you, we often replynot at all:

A:

Thanks so much for lunch, Rachel.

B:

Not at all.It was my pleasure.