You use no, none and the no- words to say that a number or amount is zero, or that no person, thing or place fits what you mean. The right form depends on whether a noun follows and what you are referring to.
Put no directly before a noun. It means not any or not one in the quantity patterns below. A countable noun names something you can count; an uncountable noun, such as equipment, names something you do not count in that way.
| Noun type | Example |
|---|---|
| One countable thing | There is no balcony in this flat. |
| Plural countable things | There are no towels in the bathroom. |
| An uncountable amount | We have no equipment for the job. |
The verb has an affirmative form: have, is or are, not haven't, isn't or aren't. The meaning is already negative because of no. Choose the verb to fit the noun: no balcony is singular; no towels is plural.
No and not any can give the same basic information. Cambridge notes that no can make the negative stronger, especially when you stress it. It is not a different number.
None is a pronoun: it replaces a noun or noun phrase. It means not one or not any of the people, things or amount you have in mind. The context must make that group or amount clear.
Do not put none directly before an ordinary noun. Use no messages, or none of the messages when you mean a named group. No on its own can answer a yes-no question; none answers a question about a number or amount.
You can add at all to make the zero amount clear: none at all. This does not change the number.
Use none of before the, these, my and similar words, or before a pronoun. It selects zero from an identified group or amount, rather than introducing a new noun on its own.
| No before a noun | None of before an identified group |
|---|---|
| No visitors stayed late. | None of the visitors stayed late. |
| We used no paint. | We used none of this paint. |
| No parcels arrived. | None of my parcels arrived. |
After of, use the object form of a pronoun: us, them or it, not we or they. Do not add of directly after no in this pattern.
To say the same zero meaning with a negative verb, use any of, not none of.
None does not force a singular verb in every sentence. Check what it refers to. An uncountable amount takes a singular verb; with a plural group, both singular and plural forms are used.
| Reference | Verb pattern |
|---|---|
| An uncountable amount | None of the oil is usable. |
| A plural group, singular choice | None of the answers is correct. |
| A plural group, plural choice | None of the answers are correct. |
Cambridge teaches the singular choice with none of as formal and notes plural verbs in informal speech. Oxford also allows both with plural groups in British English. Do not cross out are just because none begins the subject. The University of Wisconsin-Madison writing guide also allows singular or plural verbs according to the context.
Oxford's usage note makes a more specific regional distinction: it gives plural verbs for plural groups in North American English. Other dictionaries give a wider choice. Follow the style required for the writing you are doing, rather than treating one verb form as an error everywhere.
A group word such as family adds another choice. Oxford allows None of her family has... or have... in British English, depending on the group reading; it gives has as the usual North American choice. See Subject-verb agreement: finding the subject and choosing the verb for group nouns and agreement.
The same reference matters when no noun follows none: We needed information, but none was available; We needed chairs, but none were available. The second sentence is not wrong because none has no plural ending.
When you are talking about exactly two people or things, Cambridge and the MIT writing guide teach neither or neither of as the choice. Use none or none of for a larger group, or for an uncountable amount.
This is a useful distinction when the pair is known. Do not make every sentence with none into a counting exercise if the size of the group has not been stated. See Both, either and neither: both doors, either of them, neither answer for the two-choice patterns.
Use nobody or no one when you simply mean no person. Use none when you mean zero members of a group already in view. None can refer to people as well as things; it is not a word reserved for objects.
Cambridge teaches nobody or no one, rather than bare none, for a general no-person statement. Oxford also records a formal use of none meaning nobody. That is a labelled formal use, not a reason to mark every bare none referring to people as ungrammatical.
For a straightforward sentence without a named group, nobody or no one is the clearest starting form. Do not use no one of us for this group pattern; use none of us, or neither of us for a known pair.
Nobody and no one refer to people; nothing refers to things; nowhere refers to places. The person and thing forms are indefinite pronouns: they do not name an exact person or thing. Cambridge Dictionary labels nowhere an adverb, though its grammar guide groups it with these related no- words.
| Meaning | Example |
|---|---|
| No person | Nobody recognised the handwriting. |
| No thing | There was nothing in the envelope. |
| No place | We had nowhere to charge the phone. |
Nobody and no one mean the same. Cambridge describes nobody as a little less formal and no one as used more in writing. Write nobody, nothing and nowhere as single words. No one is two words; no-one with a hyphen is also accepted. Do not write noone.
Nothing is not the short-answer form for every zero number or amount. Compare the questions: How many letters arrived? None. What arrived? Nothing. The first asks for a number from a set; the second asks what thing arrived.
If nowhere comes first for emphasis, the word order can change: Nowhere could we find a working socket. See Inversion for emphasis rather than applying ordinary subject order to that fronted negative.
These words can also be short replies when the missing sentence is clear.
Use a singular verb with nobody, no one or nothing as the subject: nobody knows, no one has, nothing is. Do not use a plural verb just because you do not know the person's identity.
You can refer back to nobody or no one with they, them or their without naming a gender. The verb with no one stays singular; a later verb agrees with they. This is not the same as making no one a plural subject.
Here they refers back to the person meant by no one. Nothing is a thing, not a person; use it when you refer back to that thing.
In the standard patterns for saying zero or no person, use a no- word with an affirmative verb, or an any- word with a negative verb. Do not repeat the same negative meaning with both. Some regional dialects use that combination; this page teaches the standard pattern, not a claim that those dialects have no rules.
| Two ways to express the same basic fact | Example |
|---|---|
| Affirmative verb plus no- word | I heard nothing through the wall. |
| Negative verb plus any- word | I didn't hear anything through the wall. |
After words such as never, hardly and seldom, use the any- forms for this meaning too. Hardly anyone means almost nobody, not exactly nobody.
When the subject itself means no person or no thing, start with nobody, no one or nothing. Do not replace Nothing moved with Not anything moved as the ordinary way to say that zero things moved. Other contrasts with not can have different meanings; the zero pattern is the one taught here.
This is not a ban on two negative-looking words anywhere in a sentence. Not unhappy has a different structure and a partly positive meaning. A sentence can also have more than one clause, each with its own negative. See Negatives: not, n't and do-support for negative verbs and Negative questions: isn't it, why don't you, didn't you for questions.
Put an adjective after the no- word, not before it: nothing useful, nobody famous, nowhere quiet. You can also add to plus a verb to say what action is possible or needed.
Else means other or different. It follows the compound: nobody else, nothing else, nowhere else. A possessive puts 's after else: nobody else's. Without else, nobody's is possible too.
You can make the meaning more specific with a following clause: Nothing that I tried removed the stain. See Defining relative clauses: who, which, that for that pattern.
No plus an -ing activity appears on signs to say that the activity is not allowed. It is not a full sentence with a missing do.
No is not a replacement for not everywhere. Use not with an adjective or a prepositional phrase: not ready, not on Tuesday. For simple classification, use not a or not an: A whale is not a fish. No can have a stronger meaning in other noun patterns: I'm no expert says you do not claim the ability of an expert. See Negatives: not, n't and do-support for the verb forms.
No can also modify a comparison: no warmer means not any warmer, not a zero number of things. See Comparatives for the comparison pattern.
Fixed expressions also need their own meanings. Oxford gives have none of it for refusing to accept something, none but for only in a literary style, and none other than to emphasise someone's identity. Cambridge Dictionary gives formal none too as not very. These are not ordinary zero amounts.
None the wiser means that you still do not understand or are not aware of something. It is a fixed expression, not the ordinary none of pattern.
Nothing but can mean only: The box contained nothing but old receipts. It does not mean the box was empty. See except, except for, apart from and besides for but and other exception patterns.
✗None bicycles are allowed inside.
✓No bicycles are allowed inside.
Put no directly before the plural noun.
✗None of we received a reply.
✓None of us received a reply.
After of, use the object form us.
✗Nobody have opened the shutters.
✓Nobody has opened the shutters.
Nobody takes singular has in this pattern.
Use Some and any: someone, anything, somewhere and related forms for some, any and related compounds; Both, either and neither: both doors, either of them, neither answer for two choices; Subject-verb agreement: finding the subject and choosing the verb for subject-verb choices; and Negatives: not, n't and do-support for negative verbs.
Eight questions. Choose one answer for each.