A simple question

Question

Please, tell me if these sentences are correct or not:

1. No people were able to help him
2. This opinion proved that no kids respect them

If they are wrong, please give me a guidance how to figure them out.

Inchoateknowledge · Accepted Answer

Hi

Yes, no as a determiner with a plural noun is possible.

Spocik · Answer

Thank you very much. Now I'm angry with my English teacher who claimed that I was wrong and suggested to use "none of" instead of "no ...". Should "none of" be correct, let me know.

Phoenix PR · Answer

Don't be mad at your instructor just yet...

In your reply back to Inch, you brought up the use of the phrase "none of". Did you mean "none of the"? If the latter, note that the structure of the following sentences is okay:

None of the people were able to help him.
This opinion proved that none of the kids respect him.

I'd also be interested to know more about the context of both situations. For example: when it's written as "no people" or "no kids", that suggests (to me) 100% of people and 100% of kids. Poor him! No one on the face of the earth can help (or respect) him.

But if it's written as "none of the people" or "none of the kids," then it suggests (to me) that there might be someone who could help or respect him. For example:

None of the people at the scene of the accident were able to help him. (But maybe he could have been helped if a doctor was close by.)
This opinion proved that none of the kids in the classroom respect him. (But maybe his brother and sister at home or some of his friends in his neighborhood respect him.)

Gosh, I could be making your original simple question much more complicated!

Spocik · Answer

It is OK Phoenix. Everything is clear so far, and you also gave me a great explanation of usage of the both phrases. I meant, than absolutely no people respected him/were able to help him. Thanks.

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