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HSK 2.0 Level 6+ HSK 3.0 Level 7–9+ 6 min read

无A不B and 无A可B for “All” and “Nothing to …”

Tell apart two look-alike idioms: 无A不B, as in 无所不知, means “all, without exception,” while 无A可B, as in 无话可说, means “nothing to …”.

Pattern

无 + A + 不 + B；无 + A + 可 + B

无A不B is a double negative meaning “every A is B”; 无A可B means “there is no A that can be B’d,” so “nothing to …”.

爷爷读过很多书，好像无所不知。

When to use 无A不B and 无A可B for “All” and “Nothing to …”

无 means “there is no” and 不 means “not,” so 无A不B literally says “there is no A that is not B.” Two negatives make a strong positive: “every single A is B.” 无所不知 is “there is nothing he doesn’t know,” so “he knows everything.”

我和小王是从小一起长大的好朋友，无话不谈。

Xiao Wang and I grew up together, and we can talk about anything.

妈妈对我们的照顾无微不至。

Mum looks after us in every little way.

在今天的城市里，手机几乎无处不在。

In today’s cities, mobile phones are almost everywhere.

他说得很有道理，我无话可说。

He made a very good point. I had nothing to say.

Common traps

  • 无A不B is positive: two negatives mean “all,” not “none.”
  • Don’t swap 不 and 可: 无话不谈 means talking about everything, 无话可说 means having nothing to say.
  • These are fixed and fairly formal; learn them as set phrases instead of building new ones.

Targeted drill

Practice this exact pattern before moving on.

下雨天不能出去，弟弟在家无事可 ，只好看书

It was raining and he couldn’t go out, so my little brother had nothing to do at home and just read
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