Lesson 85 · Stage 7: Nouns, articles & determiners
No / none / any, nothing / nobody
IntermediateForm & use
There's no milk, none of them, any colour you like, nobody came — zero, and 'it doesn't matter which'
1.No, none and not any
no means “not a” or “not any”. It goes straight before a noun — singular, plural or uncountable — and the verb stays positive. none is used when no noun follows: on its own, or as none of + the/my/these… / it / them.
| Used with | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| no | a noun (singular, plural or uncountable) | There's no milk. I have no idea. |
| none | on its own, no noun | How much milk is there? — None. |
| none of | the / my / these… + noun, or it / us / them | None of my friends came. None of it is true. |
| not … any | negative verb + any + noun | There isn't any milk. |
There's no bus after eleven, so we took a taxi.
Sorry, I have no idea where she is.
How many tickets are left? — None. They sold out this morning.
I bought three melons, but none of them were sweet.
no + noun and not … any + noun mean the same: There's no sugar = There isn't any sugar. In speech, not … any is more common; no sounds stronger and more definite. After none of + a plural noun, the verb can be plural or singular: None of my friends smoke / smokes (plural is more natural in speech, singular is more formal).
A common mistake is “There is not bread”. Remember: not goes with a verb (isn't, don't, didn't), and no goes with a noun: There's no bread / There isn't any bread. And no never comes before of — before of you need none.
2.Nothing, nobody, nowhere
no- + -thing / -body / -one / -where gives words that are already negative. They can be the subject, the object, or a one-word answer. no one is usually written as two words (British English also writes no-one).
| Meaning | no- word | = not + any- |
|---|---|---|
| not a thing | nothing | not … anything |
| not a person | nobody / no one | not … anybody / anyone |
| not a place | nowhere | not … anywhere |
Nobody answered the phone.
What did you buy? — Nothing. It was all too expensive.
I said nothing. = I didn't say anything.
the two sentences mean the same
We had nowhere to stay that night.
Nobody in my class has done their homework.
singular has, but their
A sentence needs only one negative word: either a no- word with a positive verb (I saw nobody), or not + any- (I didn't see anybody). As the subject, use the no- word: Nobody came — not “Anybody didn't come” or “Not anybody came”.
In many languages two negatives are normal, so learners say “I don't know nothing”. Standard English keeps only one negative word: I don't know anything or I know nothing. (You may hear “I don't know nothing” in songs or very casual speech, but it isn't standard English.)
3.Any = it doesn't matter which
In a positive sentence, any / anything / anybody / anywhere means “it doesn't matter which / what / who / where”. With this meaning any often goes with a singular noun (any bus, any colour), and it is common with can / could, you like and I don't mind.
Take any seat you like.
This is really easy. Anybody can do it.
I'm so hungry I could eat anything.
Call me any time. I'm usually at home.
Compare no- (zero) and any- (it doesn't matter which):
| no- = zero | any- = it doesn't matter which |
|---|---|
| There was no bus, so we walked. | You can take any bus. They all go to the centre. |
| Nobody wants this job. It's too hard. | Anybody can do this job. It's very easy. |
| What do you want to eat? — Nothing, thanks. | What do you want to eat? — Anything. I don't mind. |
Any in questions and negatives (Is there any milk? I don't have any) is explained in the lesson “Some and any”. Here, notice its second meaning: any in a positive sentence = “it doesn't matter which”.
4.Common mistakes
I didn't see nobody.I didn't see anybody. / I saw nobody.
Use only one negative word.
There is not bread left.There is no bread left. / There isn't any bread left.
not goes with a verb, no goes with a noun.
No of my friends live near me.None of my friends live near me.
Before of, use none, not no.
None student passed the test.No student passed the test.
none can't come before a noun.
Is there any sugar? — No, there's no.No, there's none. / No, there isn't any.
no needs a noun after it; on its own, use none.
Anybody didn't come to the meeting.Nobody came to the meeting.
As the subject of a negative idea, use nobody.
Examples
- There's no milk in the fridge. Can you buy some?
- We have no time to lose. The train leaves in five minutes.
- I asked in three shops, but none of them had my size.
- You can sit anywhere. Take any seat you like.
