Never Mind and It Doesn't Matter

2022-05-14

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1
  • Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question from Jesús, from Spain, about the difference between "never mind" and "it doesn't matter."
    • 2
  • Hello,
    • 3
  • My name is Jesús, and I find the use of "never mind" and "it doesn't matter" sometimes confusing, could you clear it up for me, please?
    • 4
  • Thank you from Spain.
    • 5
  • Dear Jesús,
    • 6
  • Thank you for your question. We will start with the expression "never mind."
    • 7
  • Often, we use "never mind" as an imperative or command form to tell someone to leave a subject or topic alone.
    • 8
  • This is especially true if a request is not fulfilled or a question is left unanswered.
    • 9
  • For example, if you have a question like:
    • 10
  • Can you help me put away the groceries?
    • 11
  • And it goes unanswered. You can reply:
    • 12
  • Never mind, I will do it without you.
    • 13
  • In this exchange, "never mind" is used as a command to mean "ignore what was just asked or said."
    • 14
  • Another way we can use "never mind" is as a conjunction, a part of speech that joins together two ideas, clauses or sentences.
    • 15
  • When used as a conjunction, "never mind" connects two options, the second option being the least likely or wanted.
    • 16
  • For example:
    • 17
  • I do not like traveling to work. There are too many people on the bus, never mind that it takes 45 minutes to get there.
    • 18
  • In this sentence, "never mind" acts the same as another conjunction, "in addition."
    • 19
  • In the above example, the second option is expressed as the worst part of traveling to work.
    • 20
  • "It doesn't matter" means that the subject or issue is not important.
    • 21
  • We can reword the sentence to understand it better:
    • 22
  • It does not matter (to me).
    • 23
  • The verb "matter" means to be of importance.
    • 24
  • So when we say, "it doesn't matter" we are saying "this issue or subject is not important."
    • 25
  • For example, if we are given a choice between two things, and we say "it doesn't matter," we are saying that either choice is acceptable.
    • 26
  • Do you want coffee or tea?
    • 27
  • It doesn't matter.
    • 28
  • Here we are saying that the choices are unimportant and we could enjoy either coffee or tea.
    • 29
  • Sometimes, both of these expressions can be combined, as follows:
    • 30
  • Never mind, it doesn't matter.
    • 31
  • This sentence demonstrates our lack of interest in the subject and expresses that we do not care to talk about the situation any further.
    • 32
  • Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you, Jesús!
    • 33
  • What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
    • 34
  • And that's Ask a Teacher.
    • 35
  • I'm Faith Pirlo.
    • 36
  • And I'm Jill Robbins.
    • 1
  • Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question from Jesús, from Spain, about the difference between "never mind" and "it doesn't matter."
    • 2
  • Question:
    • 3
  • Hello,
    • 4
  • My name is Jesús, and I find the use of "never mind" and "it doesn't matter" sometimes confusing, could you clear it up for me, please?
    • 5
  • Thank you from Spain.
    • 6
  • Answer:
    • 7
  • Dear Jesús,
    • 8
  • Thank you for your question. We will start with the expression "never mind."
    • 9
  • Never mind
    • 10
  • Often, we use "never mind" as an imperative or command form to tell someone to leave a subject or topic alone. This is especially true if a request is not fulfilled or a question is left unanswered.
    • 11
  • For example, if you have a question like:
    • 12
  • Can you help me put away the groceries?
    • 13
  • And it goes unanswered. You can reply:
    • 14
  • Never mind, I will do it without you.
    • 15
  • In this exchange, "never mind" is used as a command to mean "ignore what was just asked or said."
    • 16
  • Another way we can use "never mind" is as a conjunction, a part of speech that joins together two ideas, clauses or sentences. When used as a conjunction, "never mind" connects two options, the second option being the least likely or wanted.
    • 17
  • For example:
    • 18
  • I do not like traveling to work. There are too many people on the bus, never mind that it takes 45 minutes to get there.
    • 19
  • In this sentence, "never mind" acts the same as another conjunction, "in addition." In the above example, the second option is expressed as the worst part of traveling to work.
    • 20
  • Doesn't matter
    • 21
  • "It doesn't matter" means that the subject or issue is not important.
    • 22
  • We can reword the sentence to understand it better:
    • 23
  • It does not matter (to me).
    • 24
  • The verb "matter" means to be of importance. So when we say, "it doesn't matter" we are saying "this issue or subject is not important."
    • 25
  • For example, if we are given a choice between two things, and we say "it doesn't matter," we are saying that either choice is acceptable.
    • 26
  • Do you want coffee or tea?
    • 27
  • It doesn't matter.
    • 28
  • Here we are saying that the choices are unimportant and we could enjoy either coffee or tea.
    • 29
  • Sometimes, both of these expressions can be combined, as follows:
    • 30
  • Never mind, it doesn't matter.
    • 31
  • This sentence demonstrates our lack of interest in the subject and expresses that we do not care to talk about the situation any further.
    • 32
  • Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you, Jesús!
    • 33
  • What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
    • 34
  • And that's Ask a Teacher.
    • 35
  • I'm Faith Pirlo.
    • 36
  • And I'm Jill Robbins.
    • 37
  • Faith Pirlo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.
    • 38
  • ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Do you have a question for the teacher? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.
    • 39
  • ________________________________________________________________
    • 40
  • Words in This Story
    • 41
  • confusing - adj. something uncertain or unable to understand
    • 42
  • groceries - n. goods bought to be used in the home such as food and cleaning product
    • 43
  • option - n. a choice