Unhelpfulness is the noun for the quality of not helping — the state or habit of being unhelpful. It names the thing itself rather than describing a person or an action, which is why it turns up most in complaints, reports and formal writing: I want to complain about the unhelpfulness of your staff.

Unhelpfulnessunhelpfulness這個字 is the noun for the quality of not helping是「不幫忙」這種特質的名詞 the state or habit of being unhelpful也就是不肯幫忙的狀態或習慣 It names the thing itself它指的是這件事本身 rather than describing a person or an action而不是在描述一個人或一個動作 which is why it turns up most in complaints, reports and formal writing這也是為什麼它最常出現在客訴、報告和正式書面文字裡 I want to complain about the unhelpfulness of your staff「我想投訴貴公司員工的不幫忙」

It is uncountable — you never say "an unhelpfulness" or "two unhelpfulnesses". It works with of (the unhelpfulness of the reply), with a possessive (his unhelpfulness), or on its own (the unhelpfulness was breathtaking).

It is uncountable它是不可數名詞 you never say 'an unhelpfulness' or 'two unhelpfulnesses'你不會說'an unhelpfulness'或'two unhelpfulnesses' It works with of可以跟of連用 the unhelpfulness of the reply那個回覆的不幫忙 with a possessive也可以跟所有格連用 his unhelpfulness他的不幫忙 or on its own或單獨使用 the unhelpfulness was breathtaking那種不幫忙的程度令人吃驚

Two things are worth knowing. First, this is a heavy, formal-feeling word, and quite long — five syllables. In everyday speech, English speakers almost always avoid it and rearrange the sentence to use the adjective instead: rather than "his unhelpfulness annoyed me", people say "he was so unhelpful". Choosing the noun makes you sound official, which is exactly why it is useful in a written complaint and slightly odd in conversation.

Two things are worth knowing有兩件事值得知道 First第一 this is a heavy, formal-feeling word這是個很重、很正式的字 and quite long — five syllables而且相當長，有五個音節 In everyday speech在日常口語裡 English speakers almost always avoid it英語人士幾乎都會避開它 and rearrange the sentence to use the adjective instead改用形容詞重組句子 rather than 'his unhelpfulness annoyed me'不會說'his unhelpfulness annoyed me' people say 'he was so unhelpful'而是說'he was so unhelpful' Choosing the noun makes you sound official選用名詞會讓你聽起來很公式化 which is exactly why it is useful in a written complaint這正是它在書面客訴裡有用的原因 and slightly odd in conversation但在對話裡會有點奇怪

Second, it is not neutral. It quietly suggests that the person could have helped and chose not to — that is why it stings more than simply saying someone did not help.

Second第二 it is not neutral這個字不是中性的 It quietly suggests that the person could have helped and chose not to它暗暗地在說那個人本來可以幫忙卻選擇不幫 that is why it stings more than simply saying someone did not help這就是為什麼它比單純說某人沒幫忙更刺人