sentence - "I give nothing to no-one" or "I do not give anything to anyone"
I have a bit of an issue with negations. Are the following correct?
I do not give anything to anyone //I guess this is correct
I give nothing to no-one //can I say that?
Generally, is it the same to use these two statements? e.g.:
This humour does not hurt anyone.
This humour hurts nobody. //is this acceptable?
I do not know whether there is any difference or not.
Answer
The only existing answer is at best misleading.
"I do not give anything to anyone" is standard English
"I give nothing to no-one" is a double negative - not uncommon, but considered "non-standard".
"This humour doesn't hurt anyone" is standard English.
"This humour hurts nobody" is standard English.
Note that the only "non-standard" variant above is easily recast to full acceptability:
"I give nothing to anyone" is standard English.
There's no difference in meaning whether the negation is applied to the verb (give/do not give, hurts/doesn't hurt) or to the object (anything/nothing, anyone/nobody).
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