Grammar Point:
This Chinese grammatical pattern expresses a negation related to an action or choice, often implying a lack of specific intention or avoiding giving a clear answer.
Note: When you use this pattern, it sometimes means you don’t want to share the information or you don’t think the listener needs to know. Depending on the situation, it can make the conversation quite awkward.
Structure
S + Neg + V + Question Words
我沒在看什麼我没在看什么
I’m not watching anything.
我昨天沒跟誰出去我昨天没跟谁出去
I really didn’t go out with anyone yesterday.
她沒給我多少錢她没给我多少钱
She didn’t give me much money.
我也不打算跟她去哪裡我也不打算跟她去哪里
I don’t plan to go anywhere with her either.
我跟他沒有什麼關係我跟他没有什么关系
I don’t really have any kind of relationship with him.
Compare them
她沒給我多少錢她没给我多少钱
She didn’t give me much money.
(She gave me some money, but it wasn’t a large enough amount for you to need to know the exact numbers.)
她沒給我錢她没给我钱
She didn’t give me money.
(I really got nothing.)
我跟他沒有什麼關係我跟他没有什么关系
I don’t really have any kind of relationship with him.
(We are just colleagues, no special relationship. There’s nothing you need to know.)
我跟他沒有關係我跟他没有关系
I have no relation to him.
(I don’t really know him.)