No, Never, Nobody and Nothing

A1 · BeginnerNegatives

I have no money. = I don't have any money. English has two equivalent ways to negate a sentence — a no-word alone, or not + an any-word.

What you'll learn

No, never, nobody/no one, nothing, and nowhere already carry the negation by themselves
A no-word sentence has a positive (non-negated) verb — the no-word is what makes it negative
Every no-word has a not + any-word equivalent: no = not...any, never = not...ever, nobody = not...anybody, nothing = not...anything, nowhere = not...anywhere
A no-word and a not/don't never appear together in the same clause — the no-word already is the negation

A second way to negate

English has two equally correct ways to make a sentence negative: not + do/does/did (or be), or a 'no-word' — no, never, nobody, nothing, nowhere — used with a plain, positive verb.

"I don't have any money."

"I have no money."

The no-word family

Each no-word pairs with a not + any-word equivalent: no ↔ not...any, never ↔ not...ever, nobody/no one ↔ not...anybody/anyone, nothing ↔ not...anything, nowhere ↔ not...anywhere.

"Nobody came to the meeting. = Not anybody came to the meeting."

"I've never been there. = I haven't ever been there."

The verb stays positive

Because the no-word already makes the sentence negative, the verb next to it stays in its ordinary, positive form — it isn't also negated with not or don't.

"I saw nothing unusual."

"She goes nowhere on weekends."

Real English

"I have no idea."

"Nothing happened."

"I trust no one here."

"We saw nobody at the station."

Watch out

✗I have not no money.

✓I have no money. / I don't have any money.

A no-word already carries the negation — it's never combined with 'not' in the same clause.

✗I saw anything unusual.

✓I saw nothing unusual. / I didn't see anything unusual.

An any-word needs a negative verb (not/don't) somewhere in the clause — it can't stand alone as the negator the way a no-word can.

✗Anybody didn't come to the meeting.

✓Nobody came to the meeting.

For a negative subject, the natural everyday choice is the no-word (Nobody came), not 'anybody' with a negated verb.

Real life — Checking in after a trip

"How was the hike? Did you see any wildlife?"

"Honestly, nothing — not even a squirrel."

"No one else was on the trail either?"

"Nobody. We had the whole place to ourselves."

Practice

Exercise 1 · Choose the correct sentence

Choose the correct sentence.

Exercise 2 · Choose the correct sentence

Choose the correct sentence.

Exercise 3 · Choose the correct sentence

Choose the correct sentence.

Exercise 4 · Choose the correct sentence

Choose the correct sentence.

Exercise 5 · Choose the correct sentence

Choose the correct sentence.

Exercise 6 · Choose the correct rewrite

Choose the correct rewrite with a no-word: 'I don't have any friends here.'

Exercise 7 · Choose the correct rewrite

Choose the correct rewrite with a no-word: 'I don't know anybody in this city.'

Exercise 8 · Choose the correct rewrite

Choose the correct rewrite with a no-word: 'We didn't see anything strange.'

Exercise 9 · Rewrite using a no-word

Rewrite using a no-word: 'I don't have any questions.'

Exercise 10 · Rewrite using a no-word

Rewrite using a no-word: 'He doesn't go anywhere in the summer.'

Exercise 11 · Sort into groups

no money

not any money

nobody home

not anybody home

nothing here

not anything here

never late

not ever late

0 / 8 sorted

Quick challenge

Five quick questions to check what stuck.

Question 1 / 5

Score: 0/0

Choose the correct sentence.

You learned

No, never, nobody/no one, nothing, and nowhere already carry the negation on their own.
Each no-word has a not + any-word equivalent (no = not...any, never = not...ever...).
The verb next to a no-word stays in its plain, positive form.
A no-word and not/don't never appear together in the same clause.

BeginnerNegatives

Negative Sentences with Not

Learn how to make an English sentence negative — 'not' always needs a helping verb (be, do/does/did, or a modal) to attach to.

ElementaryNegatives

Negative Questions

Learn how to build a negative question — the contracted auxiliary + n't inverts in front of the subject, for both yes/no and wh-questions.

IntermediateNegatives

Double Negatives

Learn why standard English never combines a negative verb with a no-word — and how to fix the classic 'I don't have no money' mistake.

BeginnerImperatives

Positive and Negative Imperatives

Learn the imperative — the base form of a verb, with no subject, used for commands, instructions, and warnings — and its negative with 'don't'.