- NOT is mainly used to make verbs negative and is often contracted to n’t:
You have not/ haven’t understood my question.
That isn’t / That’s not what I want.
She told me not to phone her because she was very busy.
He was silent, not knowing what to say.
- It can also make other negative words or phrases:
I want to have tea, not coffee.
Not many people saw the film.
Not everyone can understand this problem.
‘Can you help me?’ ‘No, I’m afraid not’.
· NO means not any or not even one and can be used with countable or uncountable noun:
I have no idea this was so difficult.
There were no cars on the road when we left.
There’s no sugar in the kitchen.
· It can also be used with comparative adjectives or adverbs and with the word “different”:
The situation is no worse today than it was yesterday.
There is no different to what we expected.
- NONE is a pronoun which means not one or not any. It is usually followed by of + a plural or uncountable noun or a pronoun:
None of my friends know/knows I love writing.
None of the milk in the fridge was fresh.
- It can also be used on its own:
‘How much money do we have?’ ‘None (at all).’
‘We need to buy some more biscuits – there are none left.’
- In formal written English none is considered to be a singular word and is followed by a singular verb:
None of my colleagues knows how to solve the problem.
- However, in everyday speech a plural verb is more commonly used:
None of this morning’s flights have been cancelled.
Leave a Reply