GRAMMAR DETAIL

はおろか

far from · let alone

Emphasizes that not only is an expected thing absent, but something even more basic is absent as well.

Examples

その人物については、住所はおろか、名前さえ分からなかった。

We did not know the person's name, let alone their address.

彼は謝るはおろか、説明もしなかった。

Far from apologizing, he did not even offer an explanation.

忙しくて、昼食はおろか、水を飲む時間さえなかった。

I was so busy that I did not even have time to drink water, let alone eat lunch.

Structure: Use はおろか after a noun to set aside a higher expectation and emphasize that an even more basic thing is absent.
Basic usage: その人物については、住所はおろか、名前さえ分からなかった。 means that even the person's name was unknown, let alone the more detailed information of their address.

Order on the scale
- 住所はおろか、名前さえ moves from the address to the more basic name to emphasize the extent of not knowing. A following expression such as さえ or も marks the failure to meet even the lower expectation.
Presenting an action as a noun
- To put an action first, you can nominalize it with の, as in 謝るのはおろか. Distinguish this verb connection from a noun such as 昼食はおろか.