Nothing-anything-vocab meaning in English
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Definition
You know nothing!: You do not know anything! You do not have any knowledge!
Anything and nothing are respectively used in negative and affirmative constructions (to avoid a double negative):
I need nothing! I do not need anything! There is nothing that I need!
You don't know anything!: You know nothing! You do not have any knowledge!
I don't need anything! I need nothing! There isn't anything that I need!
Examples
- "-Nothing. Unless you're crooked."
Exercise 1
What does water taste like?
According to Greg, the host, water tastes like .
According to Shane, the singer, water tastes like .
According to Greg, the host, water tastes like .
According to Shane, the singer, water tastes like .
What does water taste like?
According to Greg, the host, water tastes like [not done] nothing 1.
According to Shane, the singer, water tastes like [not done] death 2.
According to Greg, the host, water tastes like [not done] nothing 1.
According to Shane, the singer, water tastes like [not done] death 2.
1 nothing: According to Greg, the host of Radio Rhubarb After Dark, water tastes like "nothing". "Nothing" describes the absence or lack of something. Examples: There is nothing in the refrigerator. We have no food!
2 death: According to Shane, the singer of this song, water tastes like "death", the state of being dead! This is pretty weird, isn't it? Note that "death" is a noun, "dead" is an adjective or adverb, and "to die" is a verb.
Exercise 2
Jean: I know anything about where Horatio comes from. I’m so ashamed!
Polly: Well, he speaks to anyone on an average day. I don’t think you should feel bad about it.
Jean: I should invite him for a drink so I can find out more about him.
Polly: Well, he speaks to anyone on an average day. I don’t think you should feel bad about it.
Jean: I should invite him for a drink so I can find out more about him.
Jean: I hardly 1 know anything about where Horatio comes from. I’m so ashamed!
Polly: Well, he barely 2 speaks to anyone on an average day. I don’t think you should feel bad about it.
Jean: I should really 3 invite him for a drink so I can find out more about him.
Polly: Well, he barely 2 speaks to anyone on an average day. I don’t think you should feel bad about it.
Jean: I should really 3 invite him for a drink so I can find out more about him.
1 hardly: "Anything" is used in negative sentences. Therefore, "hardly" is the most appropriate choice here, because it conveys the meaning "almost not" or "almost nothing". Jean is saying that he knows almost nothing about where Horatio comes from. A similar example: "I hardly received anything for my birthday" (I received very few things).
1 really: We need to make this sentence negative because of the word "anything". Using "really" makes the sentence affirmative. Jean might say: "I really don't know anything about where Horatio comes from" or "I would really like to know more about where Horatio comes from".
1 almost: We need to make this sentence negative because of the word "anything". Using "almost" makes the sentence affirmative. Jean might say: "I know almost nothing about where Horatio comes from".
2 barely: Again, we need to use a negative word here because "anyone" is present in the sentence. Polly is saying that Horatio doesn't speak to many people on an average day. Another example: "-Did you hear that? -No. I can barely hear anything".
2 completely: We cannot "completely speak" in English: this doesn't mean anything. The word "completely" is used to refer to an action which can be done to various different degrees. For example: "I completely failed to notice the problem"; "He is completely heartbroken".
2 nearly: This sentence does not make sense with "nearly" (or "almost"), because we need to make the sentence negative. Polly could say: "Horatio speaks to nearly no one on an average day".
3 really: Jean is saying that it would be a very good idea for him to invite Horatio for a drink, and that this would be a good solution to the problem. The phrase "should really" can communicate that something is urgent, very important, or a very good idea. For example: "I have terrible toothache. I should really go to see a dentist".
3 hardly: It's not possible to "hardly" invite someone for a drink: you either invite them or you don't! To do something "hardly" is to do it to a very small degree. For example: "I hardly speak to my grandfather on the phone these days" (I don't speak to him very often).
3 barely: It's not possible to "barely" invite someone for a drink: you either invite them or you don't! To do something "barely" is to do it to a very small degree. For example: "I barely speak to my grandfather on the phone these days" (I don't speak to him very often).
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