Unit 86. No / none / any. Nothing / nobody etc.
Unit 86; Part A

We use no + noun. No = not a or not any:
• We had to walk home because there was no bus. (= there wasn't a bus)
• Sue will have no difficulty finding a job. (= Sue won't have any difficulty ...)
• There were no shops open. (= There weren't any shops open.)
You can use no + noun at the beginning of a sentence:
• No reason was given for the change of plan.
We use none without a noun:
• 'How much money do you have?' 'None.' (= no money)
• All the tickets have been sold. There are none left. ( = no tickets left)
Or we use none of... :
• This money is all yours. None of it is mine.
After none of + plural (none of the students, none of them etc.) the verb can be singular or plural. A plural verb is more usual:
• None of the shops were (or was) open.
Unit 86; Part B

You can use these negative words at the beginning of a sentence or alone (as answers to questions):
• Nobody (or No-one) came to visit me while I was in hospital.
• 'What happened?' 'Nothing.'
• 'Where are you going?' 'Nowhere. I'm staying here.'
You can also use these words after a verb, especially after be and have:
• The house is empty. There's nobody living there.
• We had nothing to eat.
Nothing/nobody etc. = not + anything/anybody etc. :
• I didn't say anything. (= I said nothing.)
• Jane didn't tell anybody about her plans. (= Jane told nobody ...)
• They haven't got anywhere to live. (= They've got nowhere to live.)
With nothing/nobody etc., do not use a negative verb (isn't, didn't etc.):
• I said nothing. (not I didn't say nothing)
• Nobody tells me anything. (not Nobody doesn't tell me)
Unit 86; Part C

• There was no bus, so we walked home.
You can take any bus. They all go to the centre. (= it doesn't matter which I
• 'What do you want to eat?' 'Nothing. I'm not hungry.'
I'm so hungry. I could eat anything. (= it doesn't matter what)
• The exam was extremely difficult. Nobody passed. (= everybody failed)
The exam was very easy. Anybody could have passed. (= it doesn't matter who)
Unit 86; Part D

• Nobody phoned, did they? (= did he or she)
• No-one did what I asked them to do. (= him or her)
• Nobody in the class did their homework. (= his or her homework)
Exercises
![]() | Unit 85 Unit 86 Unit 87 | ![]() |