no
part of speech
determiner (no); adverb (no); exclamation (no); noun (a no, noes); abbreviation (No., no. — number)
meaning for a pupil
1) No means not any, or zero. «No apples» means zero apples. tree →
2) No is the answer when something is not true or you do not agree: «Is it raining? No.» tree →
3) No can mean that something is not allowed: «No running», «No entry». tree →
4) No can mean «not» with comparisons: «no more», «no bigger than». tree →
5) «No.» with a dot is short for number: «No. 5». tree →
6) (casual) «Nah», «nope», «no way», «no chance» are everyday ways to say no; «no worries» (Australia, NZ) means it's fine; «no biggie» means it doesn't matter. tree →
7) (rough) «No bloody way», «no chance, mate» and «hell no» are rough strong refusals. tree →
8) (formal) «Not any», «nil», «none whatsoever» and «in the negative» are stiff forms: «The answer is in the negative.» tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: In the Torah it is often used in commands and promises, as in "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." Interpretation: Tradition reads "no other gods" as the start of the Ten Commandments, which forbids worshipping anything but the one God. In the primary lessons: In maths: zero of something, or an answer to a yes/no question; «no more», «no longer», «none left». In everyday life and safety: signs and rules («No swimming», «No entry»); saying no to things that feel wrong or unsafe. In science: a yes/no answer to a test. In stories: «No way!», «Oh no!». In casual talk: «nah», «no worries», «no cap» (slang: no lie). In the exam voice: «nil», «no items whatsoever remain». Phrases: «no way», «no problem», «no thanks», «no one», «no doubt», «no matter».
examples
- Thou shalt make thee no molten gods. (Torah EXO.34.17, JPS 1917) tree →
- And Sarai was barren; she had no child. (Torah GEN.11.30, JPS 1917) tree →
- Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. (Torah EXO.20.3, JPS 1917) tree →
- Is there no balm in Gilead? (Prophets JER.8.22, JPS 1917) tree →
- No evil shall come upon us'? (Prophets MIC.3.11, JPS 1917) tree →
- Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters. (Writings 1CH.2.34, JPS 1917) tree →
- She has no pencils left. tree →
- No students were late. tree →
- Is 15 an even number? No. tree →
- There are no more cookies. tree →
- No running by the pool! tree →
- It is OK to say no if a game feels unsafe. tree →
- The box was no bigger than a shoe. tree →
- The sign said «No dogs allowed». tree →
- nah, no sweets left, ate the lot (casual) tree →
- «Thanks for the lift.» «No worries, mate.» (casual, Australia) tree →
- Lend you 5 quid? No bloody way, you never paid me back. (rough) tree →
- Subsequent to the distribution, no items whatsoever remained; determine the original quantity. (formal exam) tree →
- "No, sir, by design," returned Aladdin. tree →
note
«No» can stand for the number 0. «No more» or «none left» means the amount is used up. Trap: a yes/no question needs a yes or no, not a number. Homophone: know (to have in your head). «No.» can also be short for number, as in «No. 5». «No worries» and «no problem» are friendly, not refusals. «No one» (two words) = nobody. Safety: you can always say no to a secret or a touch that makes you uncomfortable, and tell a trusted adult — even if the other person gets angry or rough.
In the corpora
- And Sarai was barren; she had no child.
- Now Sarai Abram's wife bore him no children; and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
- and they took him, and cast him into the pit — and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
- We are all one man's sons; we are upright men, thy servants are no spies.'
- And we said unto him: We are upright men; we are no spies.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «no» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.