Unit 86. No / none / any. Nothing / nobody etc.

Unit 86; Part A

No and none
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

Nothing    nobody/no-one    nowhere
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

We also use any/anything/anybody etc. (without not) to mean 'it doesn't matter which/what/who' (see Unit 85D). Compare no- and any-:

   •    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

After nobody/no-one you can use they/them/their (see also Unit 85E):

   •    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

1 Complete these sentences with no, none or any.

Complete these sentences with no, none or any.

1    It was a public holiday, so there were   no shops open.
2    I haven't got   any money. Can you lend me some?
3    We had to walk home because there were ________ taxis.
4    We had to walk home because there weren't ________ taxis.
5    'How many eggs have we got?'    '________ Do you want me to get some?'
6    We took a few photographs, but ________ of them were very good.
7    What a stupid thing to do! ________ intelligent person would do such a thing.
8    I'll try and answer ________ questions you ask me.
9    I couldn't answer ________ of the questions they asked me.
10 We cancelled the party because ________ of the people we invited were able to come.
11 I tried to phone Chris, but there was ________ answer.

2 Answer these questions using none/nobody/nothing/nowhere.

Answer these questions using none/nobody/nothing/nowhere.

86.1.jpg

Now answer the same questions using complete sentences with any/anybody/anything/anywhere.
7    (1) I didn't do anything.
8    (2) __________________________________
9    (3) __________________________________
10 (4) __________________________________
11 (5) __________________________________
12 (6) __________________________________

3 Complete these sentences with no- or any- + -body/-thing/-where.

Complete these sentences with no- or any- + -body/-thing/-where.

1    I don't want   anything to drink. I'm not thirsty.
2    The bus was completely empty. There was _____________ on it.
3    'Where did you go for your holidays?'    '_____________. I stayed at home.'
4    I went to the shops, but I didn't buy _____________.
5    'What did you buy?'    '_____________. I couldn't find _____________ I wanted.'
6    The town is still the same as it was years ago. _____________ has changed.
7    Have you seen my watch? I can't find it _____________.
8    There was complete silence in the room. _____________ said _____________.

4 Choose the right word.

Choose the right word.

1    She didn't tell ~~nobody~~ / anybody about her plans. (anybody is correct)
2    The accident looked serious, but fortunately nobody / anybody was badly injured.
3    I looked out of the window, but I couldn't see no-one / anyone.
4    My job is very easy. Nobody / Anybody could do it.
5    'What's in that box?'    'Nothing / Anything. It's empty.'
6    The situation is uncertain. Nothing / Anything could happen.
7    I don't know nothing / anything about economics.

Unit 85 Unit 86 Unit 87