Let alone write it

Question

Can you please explain the meaning of the bolded part? Shouldn't it be "let alone writing it"?

"(As a user of BrE, I don't even say 'gotten' let alone write it.)

I would like to know if the use of 'gotten' here really does conform stylistically, in AmE, with the relative elegance of the "If it were not ... " construction and the even more stylish (to my mind) inversion "Were it not for them...". "

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Tara2I would like to know if the use of 'gotten' here really does conform stylistically, in AmE, with the relative elegance of the "If it were not ... " construction and the even more stylish (to my mind) inversion "Were it not for them...". "

Where did you get this from? It's got nothing to do with your question.

Tara2As a user of BrE, I don't even say 'gotten' let alone write it.

'say' is compared to 'write'. Such implicit comparisons usually take the same verb form.

Compare: I don't even like looking at bugs, let alone eating them.

let alone: much less; to say nothing of; not to mention

used especially to emphasize the improbability of a contrasting example;
used to indicate that something is far less likely or suitable than something else already mentioned

CJ

Let alone write it

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions