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Grammar
Q & A Newsgroup
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Member Posts: 4229
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Posted
How do we know when do we use "no" or "not"?
Eg: (a) There is no juice in the glass. (b) There are not / no boys in the field. |
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Member Posts: 15236
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Posted
"No" is like an adjective; it's a determiner. It modifies nouns or noun phrases. It means "zero," as an adjective.
In your sentence (a), "no" modifies "juice." There wasn't any juice. There was zero juice. In your second sentence, "no" modifies "boys." There weren't any boys. There were zero boys. Some other examples of "no" modifying a noun: "¢ Several men came to the meeting, but no women did. "¢ There are no trees left on this land. "¢ Sorry I can't make an omelet for you. We have no eggs. "¢ He's bald. He has no hair on his head. "¢ This hot weather is terrible. Our air conditioner broke. Now we have no air conditioning. _______ In contrast, "not" is an adverb. It modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. It also modifies a clause or a phrase to make them negative. Here are some sentences with "not," and a note to explain what they modify: "¢ She does not run fast. NOT modifies "run." "¢ Not one person showed up. NOT modifies the adjective "one." "¢ The man spoke eloquently, but not logically. NOT modifies the adverb "logically." "¢ We will leave when it's time to leave, not when you feel like leaving. NOT modifies the clause "when you feel like leaving." "¢ The doctor can schedule appointments on Saturdays, but not on Sundays. NOT modifies the prepositional phrase "on Sundays." "¢ Sometimes "no" and "not" can be used with different meanings: "¢ There is to be no smoking on this campus. NO modifies "smoking," a gerund, which is a noun form of the verb. "Smoking" in this case has more of a noun meaning than a verb meaning. "¢ Not smoking has improved her health. NOT modifies "smoking." In this case, "smoking" has more of a verb meaning than a noun meaning. Sometimes sentences constructed with a verb + "not" and those constructed with "no" + a noun have a similar meaning, according to Swan*" "¢ There wasn't an answer / There was no answer. The construction with "no" is a little bit more emphatic. Rachel |
