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Lucas21c Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
No + singular/plural
Could you tell me which one is right between (A) and (B) in the following sentence?
Thank you.
No [ (A) student / (B) students ] can run faster than Jack in his class.
Thank you.
No [ (A) student / (B) students ] can run faster than Jack in his class.
Top answer
student The singular conveys the idea that there is not even one student who can run faster than Jack.
- student The singular conveys the idea that there is not even one student who can run faster than Jack.
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7 Answers
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student
The singular conveys the idea that there is not even one student who can run faster than Jack.
The singular conveys the idea that there is not even one student who can run faster than Jack.
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lucas21cThen is"There are no books on the bookshelf" also wrong?No. You didn't get my point.
In the case of your original sentence, the basic idea is that you take one student at a time and compare him/her with Jack. Since there is not even one student who can run faster than Jack, it seems most logical to conclude: "No student can run faster than Ja
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If so, can I change the original sentence to this, "Any student cannot run faster than Jack in his class"?
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lucas21cIf so, can I change the original sentence to this, "Any student cannot run faster than Jack in his class"?No, that sounds very unnatural.
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Could you tell me why? They seems to me that they convey the same idea...
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We say "No one can do that" rather than "Anyone cannot do that."
We say "Nobody wants it" rather than "Anybody doesn't want it."
And the list goes on.
We say "Nobody wants it" rather than "Anybody doesn't want it."
And the list goes on.
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