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Essential French Expression
| Meaning | (not) at all | |
| Literally | of the all | |
| Register | normal | |
| Pronunciation | [du too] | |
| IPA | [dy tu]̃ | |
Usage notes: The French phrase du tout often follows the negative adverb pas, to mean "not at all."
Par exemple…
| Je ne veux pas du tout travailler. | I don’t want to work at all. | |
| Elle n’aime pas du tout le chocolat. | She doesn’t like chocolate at all. |
However, the three words do not have to be connected. Du tout can be placed at the end of the sentence to make the negation even stronger.
| Je ne veux pas travailler du tout. | I really don’t want to work at all. | |
| Elle n’aime pas le chocolat du tout. | She truly doesn’t like chocolate at all. |
Moreover, du tout isn’t limited to pas; it can be used to emphasize other negative words:
| Il ne veut plus du tout nous parler. | He doesn’t want to talk to us at all any more. | |
| Je n’ai rien du tout. | I don’t have anything at all / I have nothing at all. |
In fact, du tout can even be used all on its own, in response to a question.
| – Tu veux aller à la plage ? – Du tout ! (Pas du tout !) |
– Wanna go to the beach? – Not at all! |
|
| – Est-ce qu’il aime les sports ? – Du tout. (Pas du tout.) |
– Does he like sports? – Not even a little. |
Related expressions
- de rien du tout (used as an adjective) – trivial, trifling
- du tout au tout (used as an adverb) – entirely
- un(e) rien du tout – a nobody, a bad person
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