Recommended level: A2 (pre-intermediate)
Quick Reference
No is used as a negative response to a closed yes/no question. For example: "Do you like heavy metal music?" "No, I don't." It can also be followed by a noun to mean "zero." For example: "We have no sugar."
Not is an adverb which negates a verb. For example: is not, are not, was not, were not, should not, will not, cannot, have not, would not, etc.
None is a pronoun which means "zero." ("Do we have any milk?" "No. We have none.")
The difference between NO, NOT, and NONE in English
The words no, not, and none all express negation in English, but they all have different uses. Let's start with the word no.
How to use NO in English
No has a couple of different uses. First of all, you can use it to deny or reject something. For example:
"Do you like heavy metal music?"
"No, I don't."
"Noriko, please listen to me."
"No! I don't want to!"
"Would you like some chocolate?" "No, thank you."
In these cases, no is the opposite of yes. This is the easiest usage to understand, but it is not the only usage.
No is also used to negate nouns. Take a look at these examples:
"She has no money."
"There is no juice in the fridge."
"No one came to work today." (In this sentence, "no one" is a pronoun which means "not a single person," or "zero people." You can also use the word "nobody" in this case.)
"No dogs are allowed in this park."
"The army took no prisoners."
"There are no students in the classroom."
"That sign says there is no smoking allowed inside the building."
When we use no in this way, we mean zero--a complete absence of something. There are many common expressions with no. Here are five of the most common:
"No problem!" (You can use this as a response to "Thank you," or to agree to do something.)
"No way!" (You can use this to show shock, surprise, or disbelief.)
"No offense." (You can use this when you want to emphasize that you don't want to offend or hurt the person you're speaking to even though you said or you are going to say something that might cause pain or offense.)
"No hard feelings." (This means "I do not have any negative feelings towards you" or "I did not do what I did or say what I said to hurt you." This is usually said after an intense interaction or after a disagreement with someone.)
"No news is good news." (This means that if there is no news about a situation, the situation is probably normal or at least not negative.)
Are you still with me? In that case, let's continue with not.
How to use NOT in English
Not always negates a verb. To be more specific, it negates all forms of the verb to be, and it typically comes between auxiliary verbs and main verbs to negate a statement. Here is an extensive list of examples. In some of these examples, you will see some common contractions with "not":
"He isn't tired."
"I'm not ready."
"We are not going."
"The course wasn't expensive."
"Her suggestions were not good."
"Sorry, but I am not going to be at the office tomorrow."
"I don't want any."
"He does not work here anymore."
"Your email didn't mention that."
"I haven't got any time."
"You shouldn't smoke."
"I mustn't be lazy."
"He can't come with us."
"I could not open the door."
"The car repairs will not be cheap."
"I wouldn't do that in your situation."
"We might not arrive on time."
"He may not enter without an invitation."
"I haven't seen him today."
As you can see, not always negates a verb. One more note: The negative structure is different in some negative question forms, as in "Why is she not here?" or "What are you not telling me?"
Finally, you might have a question about the phrase "if not." For example, "You need to come to class tomorrow. If not, the teacher is going to fail you." Where is the verb in this case? It is not directly stated, but it is still implied. You can restate this situation like this: "You need to come to class tomorrow. If you do not come to class, the teacher will fail you."
Is that okay? Okay! Let's move on to the word none.
How to use NONE in English
None is a pronoun which means zero. It replaces a noun and it can stand by itself. Here are some examples:
"We need new markers. Right now, we have none that work."
"Where do you keep your cups? There are none in the kitchen."
"Do we have any milk?" "No, we have none."
"Were there any people in the lobby?" "No, there were none." (You could also say "There was no one" or "There was nobody" in this case.)
To link all of this to the beginning of this lesson, it is possible to replace every instance of none in these examples with the word no plus the appropriate noun. For instance, instead of "We need new markers. Right now, we have none that work," you could say "We need new markers. Right now, we have no markers that work."
Can we do the same with the word "not"? Yes, but the structure changes. For instance, instead of "No, we have none" for the milk example above, it is possible to say "No, we have no milk," or "No, we don't have any milk." I understand that all of these possibilities can make the uses of no, not, and none difficult--but not impossible--to remember.
Just one more note about none. It is possible to follow it with a noun, but if you would like to do this, you must use the phrase none of. For example, "None of her friends believe her," "I want none of your help," "None of these options are good," and "None of the water was contaminated."
Got it? Good. Just one more thing.
Common mistakes with NO and NOT
As an English teacher, I hear the same mistakes all the time. This is okay. This is how people learn. So, here are some common mistakes and what to say instead:
Incorrect: Is no easy.
Correct: It's not easy.
Remember, not negates all uses of the verb to be, and you need the subject it in this case. I've heard a variety of adjectives instead of easy in this case as well. For example, "is no good," "is no bad," and a slightly different structure with "I am no tired." The correct forms of these sentences are "It's not good," "It's not bad," and "I'm not tired."
Incorrect: I no finished.
Correct: I'm not finished.
This is similar to the first mistake. Remember that you need a verb after a subject.
Incorrect: He no have pets.
Correct: He doesn't have pets. / He doesn't have any pets.
To negate present simple sentences, you must use don't or doesn't. You can learn more about these verbs here.
Incorrect: I no finish.
Correct: I didn't finish. (This is usually the intended meaning of this sentence.)
Incorrect: There is not park.
Correct: There are no parks. / There aren't any parks. / There is no park.
Remember, use no before a noun. You are not negating the verb to be in this case. Why not? You want to say "There are zero parks," so you must negate parks with no. One irregularity for this is the phrase not a single followed by a noun. For instance, you can say "There is not a single park." This works because no means zero, and it wouldn't make sense to say "There is no a single park" because that would mean "There is zero a single park." In this case, you must negate the verb to be with not, so only "There is not a single park" is possible.
Incorrect: In my country, no have that.
Correct: We don't have that in my country. / That doesn't exist in my country.
Incorrect: In my country, there is not tips.
Correct: In my country, there is no tipping. / We don't tip in my country. / In my country, there are no tips. / In my country, there aren't any tips.
Remember, use no before a noun when you want to say zero. If you want to use "There are not," follow this with the word "any" before the noun, as in "There aren't any cars on the road."
That's it. We're all done. I hope you now have a clear idea of the differences between no, not, and none. If you have any questions, please write them in the comments. Finally, if you would like to support my work and continue improving your English, pick up a copy of one of my books. They are all available in PDF, e-Book, and paperback formats. Thank you for your support, and keep practicing!
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