压根儿（不／没）…
not at all; never in the first place (colloquial)
Structure
压根儿 （就） 不／没（有） 动词
What it means
Flatly denies something from the very start: not at all, never in the first place. Colloquial and emphatic.
How it is built
压根儿 (+ 就) + 不／没 + verb: 他压根儿不知道今天开会 (He had no idea there was a meeting today). Use 没 for what did not happen (压根儿没打过农药), 不 for what one does not know, want or do as a rule.
When to use it
Casual speech with a northern flavour; in the south and in casual writing often 压根 without 儿. It means the same as 根本 + negative, but in formal writing use 根本 or 从未.
Watch out
It almost always needs 不 or 没: ✗我压根儿知道。 ✓我压根儿不知道。 Match the negative to the meaning: 压根儿没去过 (it never happened), 压根儿不想去 (no wish to).
Examples
刘大姐指着一堆小白菜说，这是郊区农民自己种的，压根儿没打过农药。
Liu points at a heap of pak choi and says it was grown by farmers on the edge of town and has never been sprayed with pesticide at all.
他压根儿不知道今天开会，谁也没通知他。
He had no idea there was a meeting today: nobody told him.
我压根儿就没想去，是朋友硬拉我来的。
I never wanted to go in the first place; my friend dragged me along.
Learn this in Lesson 135 · HSK 7–9: 菜市场里 (At the wet market)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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