Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

NEGATION AND DISCOURSE

447

Intensifying negation

447a

At all

is the most common intensifier of negative items:

You’ve 

hardly eaten anything at all.

Are there 

no tickets at all left?

They were running the economy 

without any control at all from the

International Monetary Fund.

There’s just 

nowhere at all where you can get decent coffee in this town.

A–Z

12 All

Whatsoever

, which is used after no, no one, none and nothing, has a similar

meaning to at all but is more emphatic. Whatsoever can be used to intensify any

negative noun phrase:

I want 

no interruptions whatsoever during this meeting. And no one whatsoever

is to know about it.

A: Have you no juice in the fridge? 

B: None whatsoever.

Not a bit

, a little bit, in the least, the least bit are also used to intensify negatives:

The students 

weren’t a bit interested in having extra classes in the evening.

I 

didn’t find his remarks amusing in the least.

The doctors 

weren’t the least bit worried about his health.

A–Z

27 Bit, a bit (of)

Intensified negation can also be used as a mark of politeness:

A: Would it disturb you if I use your phone?

B: Not in the least.