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Never Mind and It Doesn't Matter

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."

Question:

Hello,

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?

Thank you from Spain.

Answer:

Dear Jesús,

Thank you for your question. We will start with the expression "never mind."

Never mind

Often, we use "never mind" as an imperative¹ or command form to tell someone to leave a subject or topic alone. This is especially true if a request is not fulfilled² or a question is left unanswered.

For example, if you have a question like:

Can you help me put away the groceries?

And it goes unanswered. You can reply:

Never mind, I will do it without you.

In this exchange, "never mind" is used as a command to mean "ignore what was just asked or said."

Another way we can use "never mind" is as a conjunction³, a part of speech that joins together two ideas, clauses⁴ or sentences. When used as a conjunction, "never mind" connects two options, the second option being the least likely or wanted.

For example:

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.

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.

Doesn't matter

"It doesn't matter" means that the subject or issue is not important.

We can reword the sentence to understand it better:

It does not matter (to me).

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."

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 acceptable⁵.

Do you want coffee or tea?

It doesn't matter.

Here we are saying that the choices are unimportant⁶ and we could enjoy either coffee or tea.

Sometimes, both of these expressions can be combined, as follows:

Never mind, it doesn't matter.

This sentence demonstrates⁷ our lack of interest in the subject and expresses that we do not care to talk about the situation any further.

Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you, Jesús!

Words in This Story

confusing – adj. something uncertain or unable to understand

groceries – n. goods bought to be used in the home such as food and cleaning product

option – n. a choice