Showing posts with label List N. Show all posts
Showing posts with label List N. Show all posts

Sunday, 27 June 2010

afternoon, evening and night

Afternoon changes to evening when it starts getting dark, more or less.
However, it depends on the time of year.
In summer, we stop saying afternoon by six o'clock, even if it is still light.
In winter we go on saying afternoon until at least five o'clock, even if it is dark.

Evening changes to night more or less at bedtime.

Note that Good evening usually means 'Hello', and Good night means 'Goodbye'
— it is never used to greet people.

  • A Good evening Terrible weather, isn't it?
    B-Yes, dreadful.



  • A:Hasn't stopped raining for weeks. Well. I must be going. Good night
    B Good night

Thursday, 3 June 2010

not any, no, none; no more, not any more, no longer, not any longer

I.


not (n't) + any

  • There aren't any cars in the car park.

  • Sally and Steve haven't got any children.

  • You can have some coffee but I don't want any.


no + noun (no cars / no garden etc.)

no ... = not + any or not + a:

  • There are no cars in the car park. (= there aren't any cars)

  • We've got no coffee. '(= we haven't got any coffee)

  • It's a nice house but there's no garden. (= there isn't a garden)


We use no ... especially after have (got) and there is/are.

negative verb + any = positive verb + no:

  • They haven't got any children, or They've got no children.
    (not
    'They haven't got no children')

  • There isn't any sugar in your coffee,  or There's no sugar in your coffee.


no and none


Use no + noun (no money / no children etc.):

  • We've got no money.

  • Everything was OK. There were no problems.


Use none alone (without a noun):

  • 'How much money have you got?'   'None.' (= no money)

  • 'Were there any problems?'   'No, none.' (= no problems)


none and no-one

none = 0 (zero)

None is an answer for How much?/ How many? (things or people):

  • 'How much money have you got?'   'None.' (= no money)

  • 'How many people did you meet?'   'None.' (= no people)


no-one = nobody

No-one is an answer for Who?:

  • 'Who did you meet?'   'No-one.' (or Nobody.)


II.


We use no more to talk about quantity or degree - to say 'how much'

  • There's no more bread. She's no more a great singer than I am.


We do not use no more to a talk about time.
Instead we use no longer (usually before the verb), not... any longer, or not... any more.

  • I no longer support the team. (NOT I no more...)

  • This can't go on any longer.

  • Annie doesn't live here any more. (NOT... any more is informal)

Tuesday, 1 June 2010

no and not a/ not any

1. No is a determiner. We use no before singular (countable and uncountable) nouns and plural nouns.
No means the same as not a or not any, but we use no:

(a) at the beginning of a sentence
(b) when we want to make the negative idea emphatic.

a.

  • No cigarette is completely harmless. (NOT Not any cigarette...)

  • No beer? How do you expect me to sing without beer?

  • No tourists ever come to out village.


b.

  • I can't get there. There's no bus. (More emphatic than There isn't a bus)

  • Sorry I can't stop. I've got no time.

  • There were no letters for you this morning, I'm afraid.


2. Nobody, nothing, no-one and nowhere are used in similar ways to no.

Compare:

  • Nobody came. (NOT Not anybody came)

  • I saw nobody (More emphatic than I didn't see anybody)


3. We only use no immediately before a noun. In other cases we use none (of).


    no and none

    1. We use no ( = 'not a', 'not any') immediately before a noun.

    no +noun

    • No aeroplane is 100% safe.

    • There's no time to talk about it now


    Before another determiner (for example the, my, this), we use none of.
    We also use none of before a pronoun.

    none of + determiner + noun
    none of + pronoun


    • None of the keys would open the door.

    • None of my brothers remembered my birthday.

    • None of us speaks French.


    When we use none of with a plural noun, the verb can be singular (more formal) or plural (more informal)

    • None of my friends is/are interested


    2. We can use none alone without a noun.

    • How many of the books have you read. None.


    3. When we talking about two people or things, we use neither, not none

    • Neither of my parents could be there. (NOT none of....)

    next and the next

    Next week, next month etc is the week or month just after this one.
    If I am speaking in July, next month is August;
    If I am speaking in 1900, next year is 1900.
    (Note that prepositions are not used before these time-expressions)

    • Goodbye. See you next week.

    • I'm spending next Christmas with my family.

    • Next year will be difficult.


    The next week, the next month etc can mean the period of seven days, thirty days etc starting at the moment of speaking.
    On July 15th, 1985, the next month is period from July 15th to August 15th; the next year is the period from July 1985 to July 1986.

    • I'm going to be very busy for the next week (the seven days starting today)

    • The next year will be difficult. (= the twelve months starting now)

    Thursday, 27 May 2010

    next and nearest

    1. Nearest is used for place - it means 'most near in space'

    • Excuse me. Where's the nearest tube station?
      (not... the next tube station?)

    • If you want to find Alan, just look in the nearest in the pub.


    Next is usually used for time - it means 'nearest in the future'

    • We get off at the next station (=the station that we will reach first)

    • I'm looking forward to her next visit.


    2. We use next in a few expressions to mean 'nearest in space'.
    The most common are next door and next to.

    • My girl-friend lives next door.

    • Come and sit next to me.

    neither, nor and not... either

    1. We use neither and not to mean 'also not' . They mean the same.
    Neither and nor come at the beginning of a clause, and are followed by auxiliary verb + subject.

    neither/ nor + auxiliary verb + subject

    • I can't swim. Neither can I ( NOT I also can't)

    • I don't like opera. Nor do I (NOT I don't too)


    2. We can use not...either with the same meaning

    • I can't  swim. I can't either

    • I don't like opera. I don't either.

    Thursday, 6 May 2010

    List N












    nationalise or
    naturalise?
    to NATIONALISE =totransfer
    ownership from the private sector to the
    state
    to NATURALISE = to confer full
    citizenship on a foreigner
    no body or nobody?Use these exemplar sentences as a guide:
    It was believed that he had been
    murdered but NO BODY was ever found,
    and so nothing could be proved. (= no
    corpse)
    NOBODY likes going to the dentist.
    (= no one)