French expression: Du tout

By Laura K. Lawless, About.com GuideOctober 14, 2011

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What does the idiomatic French expression du tout mean? Click to learn all about it, and then come back here to share your thoughts.
More: French expressions | Common French phrases

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October 14, 2011 at 10:01 am (1) Liverpool French Club says:: Great lesson. Merci.
October 14, 2011 at 10:54 am (2) Punch says:: Why is it du tout and not de tout since it comes after a negative?
October 14, 2011 at 11:47 am (3) LKL - French Guide says:: Because “du tout” is a set expression. It’s not “tout” that is negated, but rather the verb or some other word in the sentence. “Du tout” is tacked on just to emphasize the negation.
October 14, 2011 at 12:29 pm (4) isabel says:: thank you for the lesson, it was really helpful. Keep doing these stuffs.
It helps all the people like me to learn french better.ç+

October 15, 2011 at 1:02 pm (5) Jean Paquette says:: I am french and personne ”du tout” n’était à la plage don’t sound like right to me since personne already mean nobody….

That what we call a pléonasme like descendre en bas or monter en haut, a common mistake.

On dirait plus qu’il n’y avait pas un chat sur la plage =D

Hope it’s help…
October 17, 2011 at 8:07 am (6) Solomon says:: Thank you Laura for an interesting lesson (as usual).
I see that ‘du tout’ is used the same way for singular, plural, feminine, masculine or neutral. Instinctively, I was looking to see different forms based on the subjects. May be you wpuld say a few words.

Best.