Introduction
Negative determiners convey a negative meaning for clauses, words and expressions.
Form
We use negative determiners in positive sentence to emphasise a negative idea.
The most commonly used are no, none of, nobody, nothing, no one and nowhere.
NOTE: None of comes before a determiner or a pronouns.
Example
- There is no way he is a Capricon.
- None of the past nights had a full moon.
- Nobody in the class knew about the Big Dipper.
- Nothing shines brighter than the sun.
- There was no one that wanted to join him climb the mountain.
- There is nowhere a more beautiful natural scenery than this.
Use
We use these determiners to emphasise a negative idea about the quantity of something, someone and places.
We find:
- for something: no, none of, nothing;
- for someone: nobody, no one;
- for places: nowhere.
Summary
We use negative determiners in positive sentences to convey a negative idea about the quantity of something, someone and places.
We find:
- for something: no, none of, nothing;
- for someone: nobody, no one;
- for places: nowhere.
For example:
— “I saw nobody.” = The sentence is more emphatic.
♦ “I didn’t see anybody.” = The sentence is less emphatic.
NOTE: None of comes before a determiner or a pronoun.
Let’s revise this content within the {Form} section. Take a look at the {Example} section that shows its use within a context sentence.