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Anonymous Posted 21 years ago
Vocabulary
Help! nothing but & nothing more than
Help! What is the usage of the two phrases?
I mean is there any limitation of the verbs followed by the two phrases?
Must they be followed by "V", "Ving" or " to V"?
Or it depends?
Thanks
I mean is there any limitation of the verbs followed by the two phrases?
Must they be followed by "V", "Ving" or " to V"?
Or it depends?
Thanks
Top answer
Hello, Anon, I'll just answer the first part of your question, by examples: "nothing but": "our old oak tree was hit by lightning, and there was nothing but ashes there where it once stood so proud" = there were only ashes. "nothing more than": "Harry had tried to conjure a lion, but there was nothing more than a guinea pig running around in the classroom" = he could not manage anything better than.
- Hello, Anon, I'll just answer the first part of your question, by examples: "nothing but": "our old oak tree was hit by lightning, and there was nothing but ashes there where it once stood so proud" = there were only ashes.
- "nothing more than": "Harry had tried to conjure a lion, but there was nothing more than a guinea pig running around in the classroom" = he could not manage anything better than.
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2 Answers
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Hello, Anon, I'll just answer the first part of your question, by examples:
"nothing but": "our old oak tree was hit by lightning, and there was nothing but ashes there where it once stood so proud" = there were only ashes.
"nothing more than": "Harry had tried to conjure a lion, but there was nothing more than a guinea pig running around in the classroom" = he could not manage a
"nothing but": "our old oak tree was hit by lightning, and there was nothing but ashes there where it once stood so proud" = there were only ashes.
"nothing more than": "Harry had tried to conjure a lion, but there was nothing more than a guinea pig running around in the classroom" = he could not manage a
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If you want a verb after these expressions, use the bare infinitive.
We did nothing but watch TV all night.
You did no more than copy the answer from another student.
In the second case, the addition of "to" is sometimes heard: "... more than to copy the answer ..."
However, you need to match the structure given in the introductory material if you have an -
We did nothing but watch TV all night.
You did no more than copy the answer from another student.
In the second case, the addition of "to" is sometimes heard: "... more than to copy the answer ..."
However, you need to match the structure given in the introductory material if you have an -
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