No longer: How and When to Use in English
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No longer
No Longer expresses the changed situation of a state or action:
With his leg in a cast, he will no longer be able to walk to the office. With his leg in a cast, he won't be able to walk to the office like he used to in the past.
Now that he is in San Francisco, Horatio can no longer swim daily in the river. Now that he is in San Francisco, Horatio cannot swim daily in the river like he used to when he lived in the Amazon.
Exercise 1
We will be accepting applications for the position of laboratory assistant, because the position has already been filled. Therefore, we will not need our ad in the newspaper .
We will no longer 1 be accepting applications for the position of laboratory assistant, because the position has already been filled. Therefore, we will not need our ad in the newspaper any longer 2.
1 no longer: 'No longer' expresses the end to an action which had continued until a certain time. It is the best answer here.
1 no more: We cannot use 'no more' in this sentence because it is grammatically incorrect. 'No more' is usually used to describe an amount or quantity, rather than a period of time.
1 no: Using 'no' here makes this sentence grammatically incorrect. 'No' can be used to create negation in a sentence however. For example: There are no cookies left in the kitchen.
1 any more: Using 'any more' in this sentence makes it grammatically incorrect. 'Any more' is generally after a negative term to create the equivalent to 'no longer' in negative constructions.
2 any longer: 'Any longer' is the correct choice here because it correctly indicates the end of an action. Negation is not needed in this part of the sentence because 'will not' carries the negation of the construction. Expressions using the term any (any longer, any more, any where, anything) are used in negative constructions as the equivalent of expressions such as 'no longer', 'no more', 'nowhere', 'nothing' etc.
2 no longer: Because 'will not' already carries the negation of the sentence, we cannot use 'no longer' because it creates a double negative which is grammatically incorrect.
2 nothing: 'Nothing' refers to the absence of an object or idea. This sentence requires a term which refers to the end of an action.
2 anything: Using 'any thing' in this sentence makes it grammatically incorrect. 'Any thing' is generally after a negative term to create the equivalent to 'no longer' in negative constructions.
Exercise 2
Susie: Philip, I can tolerate your insensitive comments about women in the office.
Philip: I'm really sorry Susie. It's just that your beauty drives me crazy, and I just can't take it .
Philip: I'm really sorry Susie. It's just that your beauty drives me crazy, and I just can't take it .
Susie: Philip, I can no longer 1 tolerate your insensitive comments about women in the office.
Philip: I'm really sorry Susie. It's just that your beauty drives me crazy, and I just can't take it any longer 2.
Philip: I'm really sorry Susie. It's just that your beauty drives me crazy, and I just can't take it any longer 2.
1 no longer: 'No longer' expresses the end to an action which had continued until a certain time. It is the best answer here.
1 any longer: Because there is no negation in the phrase, we cannot use 'any longer' here.
2 any longer: 'Any longer' is the correct choice here because it correctly expresses the end of an action.
2 no longer: Because 'can't' already carries the negation of the phrase, we cannot use 'no longer' because it creates a double negative which is grammatically incorrect.
Exercise 3
Bruno: Polly, please make sure that people interrupt me during my massage session.
Polly: Yes, sir, Mr. Delavigne. You will be bothered.
Bruno: Excellent.
Polly: Yes, sir, Mr. Delavigne. You will be bothered.
Bruno: Excellent.
Bruno: Polly, please make sure that no more 1 people interrupt me during my massage session.
Polly: Yes, sir, Mr. Delavigne. You will no longer 2 be bothered.
Bruno: Excellent.
Polly: Yes, sir, Mr. Delavigne. You will no longer 2 be bothered.
Bruno: Excellent.
1 no more: This is the best choice here. We use 'no more' to describe an amount or quantity. In this case we refer to people.
1 no longer: 'No longer' is incorrect here, because we are not speaking about a period of time, but a number of people.
1 any: 'Any' is grammatically incorrect here because the sentence does not carry any negation. When we speak about people, we usually use the pronouns 'anyone', 'anybody' or 'nobody'!
2 no longer: We use 'no longer' here because Polly is telling Bruno that 'from this moment in time' he will not be bothered. This is the best choice.
2 no more: We cannot use 'no more' in this sentence because it is grammatically incorrect. 'No more' is usually used to describe an amount or quantity, rather than a period of time.
2 no: We cannot use 'no' in this sentence. It does not express that Bruno will not be bothered 'anymore'.
Exercise 4
Bruno: Polly, I believe I already told you that I didn't want people interrupting me.
Polly: I promise you, sir, that people have come through this office.
Bruno: Then why is there a monkey sitting on my desk?
Polly: He must have entered through the window, sir.
Bruno: I will tolerate this sort of thing, Polly. Please call Horatio and send him in here.
Polly: I promise you, sir, that people have come through this office.
Bruno: Then why is there a monkey sitting on my desk?
Polly: He must have entered through the window, sir.
Bruno: I will tolerate this sort of thing, Polly. Please call Horatio and send him in here.
Bruno: Polly, I believe I already told you that I didn't want any more 1 people interrupting me.
Polly: I promise you, sir, that no more 2 people have come through this office.
Bruno: Then why is there a monkey sitting on my desk?
Polly: He must have entered through the window, sir.
Bruno: I will no longer 3 tolerate this sort of thing, Polly. Please call Horatio and send him in here.
Polly: I promise you, sir, that no more 2 people have come through this office.
Bruno: Then why is there a monkey sitting on my desk?
Polly: He must have entered through the window, sir.
Bruno: I will no longer 3 tolerate this sort of thing, Polly. Please call Horatio and send him in here.
1 any more: Because the verb 'to do' already carries the negation of the sentence, we must use 'any more' to describe 'people'.
1 no more: We cannot use 'no more' because the verb 'to do' already carries the negation of the sentence, and this would create a double negative.
1 no longer: We cannot use 'no longer' here, because we are not speaking about time.
2 no more: Because the sentence is affirmative, we must use the negative phrase 'no more' to describe people.
2 any more: Because the sentence is affirmative, we cannot use 'any more' to describe people.
2 no longer: We cannot use 'no longer' here, because we are not speaking about time.
3 no longer: We use 'no longer' here because we are expressing a relationship of time.
3 no more: We cannot use 'no more' in this sentence because it is grammatically incorrect. 'No more' is usually used to describe an amount or quantity, rather than a period of time.
3 any longer: We cannot use 'any more' in this sentence because this sentence does not carry any negation.
Exercise 5
Winter is coming.
I wonât be able to wear dresses .
I will swim in the sea.
I will lay my bare feet on the burning sand!.
What a downer!
I wonât be able to wear dresses .
I will swim in the sea.
I will lay my bare feet on the burning sand!.
What a downer!
Winter is coming.
I wonât be able to wear dresses anymore 1.
I will no longer 2 swim in the sea.
I will no longer 3 lay my bare feet on the burning sand!.
What a downer!
I wonât be able to wear dresses anymore 1.
I will no longer 2 swim in the sea.
I will no longer 3 lay my bare feet on the burning sand!.
What a downer!
1 anymore: "Anymore" is used to express a change of situation in this context. It is used after a negation. Example: âI used to like penguins, but I donât like them anymoreâ.
1 no longer: We can't add "no longer" to this sentence, because it already contains the negative auxiliary "won't". We add "no longer" to an affirmative sentence to indicate the end of an action or habit. We could say: "I will no longer be able to wear dresses".
2 no longer: âNo longerâ indicates that the action of swimming will not continue in the future (presumably because the temperature is too low in winter). Another example: "My best friend has moved to Peru. I will no longer spend my Saturday evenings playing word games with him. I am deeply sad".
2 anymore: "Anymore" is used after a negation. There is no negation in this sentence. We could say: âI wonât swim in the sea anymore.â
3 no longer: Again, âno longerâ indicates that the action of laying feet on sand will not continue in the future. Another example: "According to new company rules, we can no longer refer to any colleague as 'that idiot'".
3 anymore: "Anymore" is used after a negation. There is no negation in this sentence. We could say: âI wonât lay my feet on the sand anymore".
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