TKG English Learner's Dictionary

nothing

nothingpronoun

American /ˈnʌθɪŋ/ British /ˈnʌθɪŋ/ Stress on the first part. The th is the th of thin, not of this.
very commondefining vocabulary

  1. not anything; no thing at all

    Nothing already means not anything, so it is not usually joined with not in the same clause: I know nothing about it, not I don't know nothing about it. When it is the subject, it comes before the verb: Nothing happened.

    Collocations

    phrase nothing much, nothing special, nothing at all, have nothing to do with, for nothing

    Antonyms something; everything

    Compare none (nothing means not any thing at all, with no group in mind; none picks out not any member of a stated or implied group); anything (anything needs a negative word or a question elsewhere in the sentence (I don't know anything); nothing already carries the negative meaning by itself)

    For translators (sense 1)

    Grammar trap Nothing already carries the negative meaning, so standard English does not add not as well in the same clause; many languages require or allow both a negative word and a negated verb together.

Phrases

for nothing

without payment, or without any result

have nothing to do with

not be connected to or involved with someone or something

think nothing of it

used to tell someone that they do not need to thank you or feel bad

Word family

Usage

In some informal and dialect speech, not and nothing appear together in the same clause for emphasis (I don't know nothing about it); this double negative is nonstandard in careful English, where nothing alone already carries the negative meaning.

Common mistakes

I don't have nothing to say. I have nothing to say.
Nothing already means not anything; do not add not as well.
Nothing don't matter here. Nothing matters here.
Nothing is a singular subject and takes a singular verb, with no extra negative word.