Skip to content

geschweige denn

let alone, much less

conjunction ge-SHVY-ge den Rare
Communication Expressions

Usage Note

Geschweige denn intensifies a negation, implying that a less-extreme case is already ruled out, so the more-extreme case is even more so. It always follows a negated clause: Er kann nicht schwimmen, geschweige denn tauchen.

Examples

"Ich habe keine Zeit zu frühstücken, geschweige denn zu kochen."

Natural Translation

I have no time to have breakfast, let alone to cook.

Literal Translation

I have no time to breakfast, let-alone-then to cook.

Explore German by topic