Talk:no

different nos:
''What kind of word is no here: No[['']]]]] ]]]]

There was no water left?

It seems not to be mentioned yet...


 * Linguistically that would be a determiner but most dictinaries use few classes and so would probably call it an adverb.


 * Of course the most common use is as an interjection - and none of the senses in this article are marked as such! Hippietrail 23:25, 16 Mar 2004 (UTC)


 * I wouldn't think it a determiner but rather a quantifier. In any case it'd be a subtype of adjective, not an adverb...  —Muke Tever 22:39, 15 May 2004 (UTC)


 * When no means not any, as in "I have no money", "there is no water", it is an adjective. It’s also an adjective when the meaning is "far from being", as in "I’m no lawyer". —Stephen 21:25, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Almost all the translations for the adverb no include both a correct translation, but also a translation for the interjection mentioned in the section above. In most of them, the latter is labelled (1), even though this is wrong. Example: Both meanings (1) and (2) of no are kein in German, yet it claims that (1) was nein, which is incorrect. I can fix it for some of the languages, but someone more knowledgeable should fix it for everything. &mdash; Timwi 21:32, 15 May 2004 (UTC)

Plural of no (n.)
On seeing the following headline in the online Economist:

The winner from the French and Dutch noes

I was struck by the oddness of the plural spelling. Of course, it’s not a word that one often has cause to pluralize. So I did a little checking on the web and came up with the following two web-pages:

A page on Ask Oxford which deals with the use of apostrophes in pluralization. It says in point 4. that apostrophes can be used, for clarity, in the pluralization of very short words such as do, ex and yes. But it also says that dos, exes and yesses are acceptable. It goes on to specifically say that the usual plural of no is noes.

A discussion on the website WritersNet on the pluralization. The original poster asked for comments on how to pluralize No. His own suggestions were Nos, No’s and “No”s. Someone suggested that Noes was given as correct in a dictionary but a common response from other posters was how weird that spelling looked (sharing my reaction). The original poster responded, however, that he saw how Noes made sense by analogy to potatoes and tomatoes.

Our own wiktionary article gives noes as the plural. However, I note that on this very talk page at the top of the page Henryk911 has written “different nos”.

So in summary, there seems to be three different ways to pluralize the word &mdash; nos, noes and no’s&mdash; along with an interesting workaround in “No”s. I'm not interested in prescribing a particular version as correct (although my natural instinct is to write no’s). I simply wanted to make a note of what I had found on this point and invite comment. Oska 00:42, 9 Jun 2005 (UTC)

something ain't right
It is strange: no claims to be an interjection, while yes claims to be an adverb. There should be some compatability between our entries for yes and no. Otherwise it is silly. --Dangherous 15:49, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

bad unicode
This page has been repeatedly moved to Talk:no/bad due to MW software detecting unicode characters outside of accepted character ranges. If anyone knows what characters those are, please remove them from this page. --Connel MacKenzie 19:28, 24 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Found some unusual CJK punctuation and removed it. Let’s see if it’s okay now. —Stephen 12:52, 25 December 2006 (UTC)

Requests for verification - kept
Kept. See archived discussion of March 2008. 06:02, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

No in Ewe
The pronunciation of No in Ewe is given as /nəʊ/. That is obviously taken from the English no entry by some well-meaning person who is not familiar with IPA and has been deceived that the o in no is the same as the long o sound in other languages and figured that the British pronunciation would do. Unfortunately, it doesn't, and so I am changing it to /no/, which is how it is really pronounced.
 * That entire paragraph is utterly baffling. I can’t begin to understand any part of it.  What do sheep have to do with this?  What is ‘British pronunciation’?  What are you talking about? Correctrix (talk) 05:32, 17 April 2018 (UTC)
 * . —Suzukaze-c◆◆ 05:38, 17 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Ta. Correctrix (talk) 10:49, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

Etym2
Have found myself using "or no" as a subsitute for "or not" because i think it sounds gentler. "Did you want to sweep the floor or not?" can sound intimidating. New England, USA. Soap (talk) 18:20, 19 July 2015 (UTC)

“No good”, etc.
I think the adverb section should also include phrases not involving “different” or “less”: “no good”, “no fair”, “no fun”. Loraof (talk) 14:50, 11 May 2019 (UTC)

one year of no alcohol
What is the meaning of no here? --Backinstadiums (talk) 17:48, 31 July 2019 (UTC)
 * Looks to me like the very first sense in the entry ("Not any"). —Granger (talk · contribs) 23:54, 31 July 2019 (UTC)

If so, there can no more be a best possible world than there can be a largest number
In the following quotation, what meaning aplies to "no (more)"? If so, there can no more be a best possible world than there can be a largest number --Backinstadiums (talk) 12:53, 3 February 2020 (UTC)
 * "no" = "not any". To rephrase the sentence without the word "no": If so, there cannot be a best possible world any more than there can be a largest number. —Granger (talk · contribs) 03:19, 4 February 2020 (UTC)

nə
According to Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, "there is also an occasional weak form nə" --Backinstadiums (talk) 22:43, 8 July 2020 (UTC)

Adjective no more: (idiomatic) Not any more
no more reads "Adjective: Not any more". Is it so? --Backinstadiums (talk) 12:11, 29 July 2020 (UTC)


 * In that sense I think it's a determiner. —Granger (talk · contribs) 12:17, 29 July 2020 (UTC)

Adverb: [before an adjective or adverb that is comparative, or ending in -er]
Adverb: an adjective or adverb that is comparative, or ending in -er Reply by no later than 21 July. --Backinstadiums (talk) 16:37, 26 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Good catch, this needs to be added to the entry. I'm not sure which etymology section to put it in. —Granger (talk · contribs) 17:18, 26 November 2020 (UTC)
 * what does or ending in -er refer to? Versus analytic more? --Backinstadiums (talk) 11:11, 27 November 2020 (UTC)
 * I think that must be what they mean, forms like better and harder. —Granger (talk · contribs) 15:44, 27 November 2020 (UTC)

Adverb: overly restrictive labelling
Current label says: "Except in Scotland, now only used with different, with comparatives more and less, and informally with certain other adjectives such as good and fun" - however, there are many uses of adverbial no allowable in modern English: He is no sorrier this morning; she said in no friendly manner; it's no colder today than yesterday, no easy thing; and so on. - Sonofcawdrey (talk) 09:22, 9 January 2021 (UTC)

None is the pronoun form of no.
None is the pronoun form of no --Backinstadiums (talk) 12:20, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

whether or no
Idiom: Regardless of circumstances. --Backinstadiums (talk) 12:34, 25 February 2021 (UTC)
 * Also or no --Backinstadiums (talk) 16:30, 13 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Sum-of-Parts, since NO (adverb) 4. not: whether or no. --Backinstadiums (talk) 13:36, 26 June 2021 (UTC)

no little
What meaning is used in It caused no little confusion? Or is it no little, similarly to not a little? --Backinstadiums (talk) 12:05, 17 May 2021 (UTC)

to no
As in Studies have found limited to no difference between these two types. Backinstadiums (talk) 09:10, 22 July 2022 (UTC)
 * I don't think to no is a constituent in this sentence. Studies have found limited [difference] to no difference between these two types. —Granger (talk · contribs) 22:36, 22 July 2022 (UTC)

No or 'No?
@Ysrael214 What's the difference between no and 'no in Tagalog? Are they both the same or different? Agwikista (linguist) (talk) 04:43, 29 November 2022 (UTC)


 * @Agwikista (linguist) Oh didn't notice existed already. But I rarely see  with an apostrophe. But I think my entry has more detail. I'll merge these two later but they're just the same. Ysrael214 (talk) 04:50, 29 November 2022 (UTC)
 * @Ysrael214 Oh, ok. Just a question, what would be the etymology of the particle "no"? Is it from Tagalog ano or Spanish no? Agwikista (linguist) (talk) 04:53, 29 November 2022 (UTC)
 * @Agwikista (linguist) Hmm.. Actually the meaning is closer to the Spanish, because means "what". But maybe it has been conflated or some corruption happened that people said ano instead. Actually not sure on this. Maybe needs discussion.
 * What do you think? @Mlgc1998 @Mar vin kaiser Ysrael214 (talk) 05:00, 29 November 2022 (UTC)
 * @Ysrael214 isn't like whatchamacallit like, "di ba no?" / "hindi ba, ano?", cuz it would be a double negative with if with . In p.241 of Schachter & Otanes (1972) "A Tagalog Reference Grammar", there's also mention of "Siya ang mas matanda, ano?" translated in English as "He's the older one, isn't he?" and p.496 "Maganda ang tanawin, ano?" = "The view is beautiful, isn't it?". It is further discussed in p.503, "§7.6 Confirmation questions." here. It is specified to specifically function "after the proposition", with "Confirmation questions with ano (see examples above) consist of two intonation phrases. The proposition to be confirmed takes a rising intonation pattern (pattern 1.3, §1.24), while ano itself takes a low level intonation pattern (pattern 1.5, §1.24). p.504 also details that "Some speakers avoid using hindi ba with proposition negated by hindi, always using ano under these circumstances. Other speakers, however, use such sentences as: "Hindi pa titser si Maria, hindi ba?" / "Hindi ba, hindi pa titser si Maria?" = "Maria isn't a teacher yet, is she?" as well as: "Hindi pa titser si Maria, ano?". More in p.519-520. Although, the concept coming initially from Spanish is also plausible, although later reinterpretation with  is another evolution of it, I guess. I'm not familiar tho with the no. 4 negating expression in, since if I heard this, it would just sound like Taglish codeswitching from English. Mlgc1998 (talk) 07:08, 29 November 2022 (UTC)
 * @Mlgc1998 To be clear, I'm referring to Spanish, meaning ? I'll respond to this later. Ysrael214 (talk) 07:12, 29 November 2022 (UTC)
 * @Mlgc1998 Sometimes, "double negative" happens like "Hindi naman ganito iyon, no?" but the final "no" lost it's negation meaning (if it's from Spanish) and became just associated with asking for confirmation, so it's just one negation when used. But nobody uses "no?" particle when "hindi ba" is already used.
 * for number 4, Yes it's borrowing from Spanish/English. Ysrael214 (talk) 07:19, 29 November 2022 (UTC)
 * @Mlgc1998 and yes, is whatchamacallit, which is why I don't think it was used for a tag question use and Spanish  is more plausible for me. But both native Tagalog and Spanish origin are valid. Ysrael214 (talk) 07:20, 29 November 2022 (UTC)
 * @Ysrael214 it's like and . bunch of reinterpretations some generations later. Mlgc1998 (talk) 07:25, 29 November 2022 (UTC)
 * @Mlgc1998 What do you mean here? And can you give examples?
 * What I think is native Tagalog is (I still haven't written it), but not sure if that is dialectal but I use  sometimes but only for assertions, not under uncertainty.
 * "Pagkatapos ng pagsusulat mo ay matutulog ka na, ne?" (Though sometimes it's "ane"?)
 * (After you write, you'll sleep, am I right?)
 * "Ang lamig ng aircon, ne? Hinaan mo kaya."
 * (The air conditioner is cold, eh? Try lowering it.) Ysrael214 (talk) 07:34, 29 November 2022 (UTC)
 * @Ysrael214 ne? never heard of it. only heard of the in anime.  is originally from, borrowed in during WW2 according to Potet (2016), but since mainstream Tagalog speakers usually don't know any Japanese, it was corrected and reinterpreted with , then  is an expression born out of a reinterpretation of the etymology.  is originally from , according to Potet (2016), but the popular assumption is that it is from , which was from , so  was created out of that belief that it meant leaving matters to God. Mlgc1998 (talk) 07:50, 29 November 2022 (UTC)
 * @Mlgc1998 I'm aware of Japanese ne, but been using before I even known anime. Maybe it is dialectal. Ysrael214 (talk) 09:01, 29 November 2022 (UTC)