0
Namsteven Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Scared of no thieves

- Her house has an anti-thieves system and a fingerprint lock, so she's scared of no thieves. She bought this house with a 4 year-installment contract.

- Are these sentences natural to say?

Thanks a million to Teachers,

Namsteven
  

Top answer

They do not sound very natural. Her house has an anti-thieves system and a fingerprint lock >> An anti-theft device is normally attached to something that can be stolen. Houses are fitted with burglar alarms which sound an alarm on entry.

— LouiseT

  • They do not sound very natural.
  • Her house has an anti-thieves system and a fingerprint lock >> An anti-theft device is normally attached to something that can be stolen.
  • Houses are fitted with burglar alarms which sound an alarm on entry.
  • "so she's scared of no thieves" >> so she is not scared of thieves.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

5 Answers
0
They do not sound very natural.

Her house has an anti-thieves system and a fingerprint lock >> An anti-theft device is normally attached to something that can be stolen. Houses are fitted with burglar alarms which sound an alarm on entry.

"so she's scared of no thieves" >> so she is not scared of thieves.
0
0
Is "I'm scared of no thieves" really impossible?
Grammatically, it would seem to make sense:

I'm not scared of any thieves => I'm scared of no thieves

If that is really not possible, then the following example should be impossible too, since it has a very similar structure:

I don't care about anything => I care about nothing

Can anyone
0
0
She didn't say it was impossible, she said is didn't sound very natural.
0
0
khoffShe didn't say it was impossible, she said is didn't sound very natural.
I see, thanks. Whenever someone corrects sentences out of context, I often assume there's a "mistake" that should be avoided. Questions and answers out of context are always a problem for me... but I guess that's a problem for everyone, both students and teachers.
0
0
Hello Koyeen

I am sorry to have caused confusion. It is not that this sentence should be avoided but it could be confusing.
For me "She is scared of no thieves" sounds very unnatural, almost as though one were saying "she is scared that she will not have thieves."

To illustrate:-

I am not scared of lights.
I am scared of no lights.

For m
0

Related Questions