Agreement & negation · CEFR B1 · Independent

no, not, none, never in English

English allows only one negative per clause. A second one turns the sentence positive, which is almost never what you meant.

The shape

not + verb · no + noun · never + verb

Say no without using two negatives at once.

In Hindi

अंग्रेज़ी में एक वाक्य में सिर्फ़ एक नकार चलता है। दूसरा नकार वाक्य को सकारात्मक बना देता है।

CoCap explains every structure in both languages, because a rule you understand in Hindi is a rule you can use in English.

The mistake to fix first

The sentence Indian-English speakers actually produce, and the reason it is wrong.

Commonly said	Correct English
I didn't tell nobody.	I did not tell anybody. Two negatives cancel out — the second one becomes "anybody".

Commonly said

Correct English

I didn't tell nobody.

I did not tell anybody.

Two negatives cancel out — the second one becomes "anybody".

Learn these first

These come first. The rest of this makes more sense once they are automatic.

NegativesA1Say no without breaking the verb

Easy to confuse with

Close enough to be mixed up with this one. Knowing the difference is most of knowing either.

Questions people ask

What is the no, not, none, never used for?: English allows only one negative per clause. A second one turns the sentence positive, which is almost never what you meant. In practice: say no without using two negatives at once.
How do you form the no, not, none, never?: not + verb · no + noun · never + verb.
What is the most common mistake with the no, not, none, never?: Saying “I didn't tell nobody.” instead of “I did not tell anybody.”. Two negatives cancel out — the second one becomes "anybody".

Where no, not, none, never fits

Where this structure sits in the ladder, and what surrounds it.

no, not, none, never is a CEFR B1 structure — the independent band — and it belongs to agreement & negation. CoCap’s syllabus files every structure this way so you can learn in order instead of jumping between whatever a search happened to return.

each, every, everyoneB1

Reading it is not the same as saying it.

CoCap turns this page into practice: Hindi sentence in, English sentence out, corrected one thing at a time. Free, no card.

Practise the no, not, none, never →

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