Why it is necessary to write "nothing else", but "nothing more than"

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The choice will be obvious if you focus on the context.

Turns like "none other than" and "nothing more than" are easy to confuse Unstressed particles not and not with constructions that include the pronouns "nobody" and "nothing". To figure it out, take a look at the following examples.

• It was none other than the headmaster himself (it was the headmaster, not someone else). No one other than the school principal can sign it (no one can sign it except a specific person).
• He will agree to nothing more than a managerial position (he will agree to a managerial position, and not to some other). Nothing other than a managerial position will suit him (nothing else will suit him, only a managerial position).
• The document must be signed by none other than the applicant himself (it must be the applicant, and not someone else). The document must not be signed by anyone other than the applicant himself (no one can sign the contract except the applicant).
• This sinkhole is nothing more than an extinct crater (this is precisely a crater, not a hollow or crack). This sinkhole is an extinct crater, and nothing else (the sinkhole can be nothing more than a crater).

In all of these examples, the combinations "nothing but" or "none other than" express opposition. Please note that the negative particle "not" is written separately, and before the conjunction "how" is put Gramota.ru: none other than / nothing more than a comma. It's easy to test yourself. It is enough to replace these phrases with “exactly”, “just”: This is nothing more than the most blatant deception. - This is precisely a deception. It was none other than our son. - It was just our son.

But the combinations "nothing else" or "nobody else" are not associated with opposition and, as a rule, are used in sentences with negation. "Ni" in this case is no longer a particle, but a prefix, therefore pronouns are written together with the pronoun. To test, try replacing the phrase with the words "nothing", "nobody": Nothing else interests him. - He's not interested in anything. Except my father, no one else knows this. “Apart from my father, no one knows this.

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