Lu Posted October 31, 2017 at 01:49 PM Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 at 01:49 PM Another translation question, about grammar/a pattern. Baby-narrator is lying on the 田埂. Mom is off to see a travelling merchant's goods, dad is in the field looking at mom. Baby feels very abandoned. 我哇哇哭叫，全身开始抽搐，可是没有人理会我，哪怕是回过身来望我一眼的人也没有。 My question is about the 哪怕. Does this sentence mean 'nobody took notice, there was not even anyone who turned to look at me', or 'nobody took notice, let alone that anyone turned to look at me'? I should know this, but the more I think about it the less sure I am. I initially translated it as the first option, but I changed it twice in the last five minutes. Thanks in advance for any advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Publius Posted October 31, 2017 at 03:30 PM Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 at 03:30 PM 'Not even' is right. In 'not A let alone B', A is more likely to happen. In 没有A，哪怕B也没有, B is more likely or easier. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted October 31, 2017 at 03:40 PM Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 at 03:40 PM What we might use here in British English (not that you're translating into it, but never mind) is 'not so much as' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted October 31, 2017 at 03:47 PM Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2017 at 03:47 PM Thanks Publius! Roddy, that is the meaning, but I'm not sure it'd work in that sentence. (Not that I'm translating into English.) Although in this story, I've heavily reworked most of the sentences anyway, so who knows what might fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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