并 + 不 / 没 (emphatic denial)
"Actually, no — not at all"
- variant of 并并 before not不 / not / haven't没 firmly denies an assumption: "it's not actually …".
- this这variant of 并并不难 = "this isn't hard at all (despite what you think)."
- variant of 并并 says "contrary to expectation".
Subj + variant of 并并 + not不 / not / haven't没 + Verb / Adj
- variant of 并并 strengthens the negative, pushing back on a belief.
this这actually并not不hard难。
- this这variant of 并并不难 = "this really isn't hard."
Practice
This isn't hard at all: 这 ____ 不难。
并 + 不 / 没 firmly denies an assumption: 这并不难.
Practice
Why add 并 before 不?
并 = “contrary to expectation” — it counters an assumption.
Counters an assumption
- Use variant of 并并not不 / variant of 并并not / haven't没 when correcting what someone wrongly assumes.
Explore
Correct or broken?
并 braces a negative against expectation: 并不 / 并没 — actually not.
Practice
并 here adds emphasis to the negation.
Yes: 并不 / 并没 = “actually not …, despite what you think”.
Recap
Key idea
- variant of 并并 + not不 / not / haven't没 + Verb / Adj — emphatic denial of an assumption
- this这variant of 并并不难 = it's not actually hard
- variant of 并并 = "contrary to what you think"
Read the full reference: HSK 4 grammar — Sentence patterns.