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So I have difficulties to pronounce “at all” in English, and I was wondering if “whatsoever” meant the same thing, and if it could be used in a conversation.

He had no idea whatsoever.
He had no idea at all.

It’s not true whatsoever.
It’s not true at all.

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  • ✔ Whatsoever do you mean? ✘ At all do you mean? ✔ Take whatever you want. ✘ Take at all you want.
    – Jason Bassford
    Commented Jun 28, 2020 at 2:38
  • @JasonBassford Your use of "whatsoever" does not work here. Nobody says that. "Whatever do you mean?" is normal As for the second instance, you're already using "whatever" and not "whatsoever", so it's not applicable. Hence your suggestion about the use of "at all" is irrelevant as it's (obviously) inapplicable (you can't replace "whatever" with "at all").
    – Prime Mover
    Commented Nov 26, 2020 at 7:29

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To me, the second substitution doesn't sound natural. In your first sentence, "whatsoever" is an adjective, or maybe a determiner, that attaches to "idea". That substitution works. In the second example, there is no noun that "whatsoever " can attach to. While some dictionaries show "whatsoever" as an adverb, some don't, and it doesn't sound right to me.

As to the difficulty in pronunciation, can you pronounce the word "tall"? If you can, you might try practicing saying "a tall man" until you can say it easily, and then drop off the "man", and then gradually saying "a tall" more smoothly as one word.

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  • Omgg thanks for the advice (prononciation)!! I’ll definitely use it! Thanks lots :)
    – Nina
    Commented Jun 28, 2020 at 0:51
  • @Nina if the answer helped you please accept it by clicking on the tick (US=check mark)
    – mdewey
    Commented Nov 25, 2020 at 15:59

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