1. Use "一 … + 也/都 + 不/没" to indicate “not at all”

Use negative structure "一 … + 也/都 + 不/没" to express "not at all".

The grammatical structure is " 一 + Measure Word + Noun + 也/都 + 不/没 + Verb"

Examples:

昨天她一件衣服都不买。

She did not buy any clothes at all yesterday.

小光似乎很不开心，今天他一句话都没说。

Xiao Guang seems very unhappy, he does not say a word at all today.

Sometimes, we can use “一点儿” to replace “一 + Measure Word”. In English, “一点儿” means ““a little bit”, same in meaning of “not at all”.

Examples:

我今天很不舒服，一点儿东西也不想吃。

I'm very sick and I do not want to eat anything (at all) today.

最近真的很忙，一点儿时间也没有。

I've been very busy lately. I have no time at all.

2. To express a period of time

When an action or a status lasts for a period of time, we use “complement of duration” in a sentence to express how long the action or status still keeps going. The complement of duration used in general are:

a quarter (一刻钟),

half an hour (半个小时),

one day (一天),

two weeks (两星期),

three months (三个月),

four years (四年), etc.

Next, we learn how to express “duration” in a sentence. Pay attention on the differences between below two grammatical structures, their meanings are not the same.

a) "Subject + Verb + 了 + Duration + Object" to indicate the duration of action.

Example:

我看了两个小时电视。

I have watched TV for two hours.

(in this example, it expresses the I watched TV for two hours)

b) "Subject + Verb + 了 + Duration + Object + 了" to indicate the duration of action which still keeps going.

Example:

我看了两个小时电视了。

I have been watching TV for two hours

(in this example, it expresses the I watched TV for two hours and keep watching it continuously, without stop)

Open Class HSK test -

The New House 新房子

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