(~es, or ~’s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
You use ~ to give a negative response to a question.
‘Any problems?’—‘No, I’m O.K.’...
‘Haven’t you got your driver’s licence?’—‘No.’
? yes
CONVENTION
2.
You use ~ to say that something that someone has just said is ~t true.
‘We thought you’d emigrated.’—‘No, ~.’...
‘You’re getting worse than me.’—‘No I’m ~t.’
? yes
CONVENTION
3.
You use ~ to refuse an offer or a request, or to refuse permission.
‘Here, have mine.’—‘No, this is fine.’...
‘Can you just get the message through to Pete for me?’—‘No, ~ I can’t.’...
After all, the worst the boss can do is say ~ if you ask him.
CONVENTION
4.
You use ~ to indicate that you do ~t want someone to do something.
No. I forbid it. You can~t...
She put up a hand to stop him. ‘No. It’s ~t right. We mustn’t.’
EXCLAM
5.
You use ~ to ack~wledge a negative statement or to show that you accept and understand it.
‘We’re ~t on the main campus.’—‘No.’...
‘It’s ~t one of my favourite forms of music.’—‘No.’
= right
CONVENTION
6.
You use ~ before correcting what you have just said.
I was twenty-two–~, twenty-one.
CONVENTION
7.
You use ~ to express shock or disappointment at something you have just been told.
‘John phoned to say that his computer wasn’t working.’—‘Oh God ~.’
EXCLAM feelings
8.
You use ~ to mean ~t any or ~t one person or thing.
He had ~ intention of paying the cash...
No job has more influence on the future of the world...
No letters survive from this early period.
DET
9.
You use ~ to emphasize that someone or something is ~t the type of thing mentioned.
He is ~ singer...
I make it ~ secret that our worst consultants earn ~thing...
DET: DET n-sing emphasis
10.
You can use ~ to make the negative form of a comparative.
It is to start broadcasting ~ later than the end of next year...
Yesterday ~ fewer than thirty climbers reached the summit...
= ~t
ADV: ADV compar
11.
You use ~ in front of an adjective and ~un to make the ~un group mean its opposite.
Sometimes a bit of selfishness, if it leads to greater self-k~wledge, is ~ bad thing...
Today’s elections are of ~ great importance in themselves.
DET: DET adj n
12.
No is used in ~tices or instructions to say that a particular activity or thing is forbidden.
The captain turned out the ‘~ smoking’ signs...
...a ~tice saying ‘No Dogs’.
DET
13.
A ~ is a person who has answered ‘~’ to a question or who has voted against something. No is also used to refer to their answer or vote.
According to the latest opinion polls, the ~es have 50 percent, the yeses 35 percent...
? yes
N-COUNT
14.
If you say there is ~ doing a particular thing, you mean that it is very difficult or impossible to do that thing.
There is ~ going back to the life she had...
PHRASE: PHR -ing emphasis
15.
~t to take ~ for an answer: see answer
~ doubt: see doubt
~ less than: see less
~ longer: see long
in ~ way: see way
there’s ~ way: see way
~ way: see way