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At all

At all means ‘in any way’. We use it with questions and negatives to add emphasis, but not with affirmative statements:

  • Do you want to swim in the sea at all?
  • She was not at all frightened.

We can use at all before or after an adjective:

  • Were you at all upset by Kevin’s behaviour?
  • They weren’t interested at all.

At all and politeness​

We often use at all at the end of a question to make the question sound more polite:

  • [ID is an abbreviation of ‘identification’]
  • Do you have any ID at all?
  • [a waiter in a restaurant]
  • Would you like any desserts at all?

We can use not at all as a polite response to questions asking Would you mind …? or Do you mind …? and as a polite follow-up response to thank you:

  • A: Would you mind taking this parcel to the main office?
  • B: No, not at all.
  • A: Do you mind if I sit here?
  • B: Not at all.
  • A: That’s very kind of you, thank you.
  • B: Not at all.