nothing还是anything not
有朋友在本站“答疑中心”询问该用nothing还是anything not。问题见：
www.yygrammar.com/guestbook/Guest_Reply.asp?TopicID=1775
该问题由本站特约作者及专家顾问龙楠老师回答如下：
根据你目前的理解思路，我估计：
你不太理解I know nothing about it. 由于你会对“了解 nothing”感到疑惑；
同样你也会不太理解He learned nothing at school. 由于你会对“学到 nothing”感到疑惑；
同样你也会不太理解He told me nothing. 由于你会对“告诉我 nothing”感到疑惑。
我说得对吗？但你要了解这类子都是很正确且地道的表达。
假大家把这类句子中的nohting改为not…anything，你可能就感觉可以理解了。如：
I know nothing about it.=I don’t know anything about it.
He learned nothing at school. = He didn’t learn anything at school.
He told me nothing. = He didn’t tell me anything.
以上改写都是成立的，由于 anything 是放在 not 的后面。
注意英语有个习惯：any, anything, anyone, anybody 等只能放在否定词的后面，而不可以将它放在否定词的前面，譬如可以说 not…anything，但不可以说 anything…not。所以下面第一句是“正”句，第二句是“误”句：
正：Nothing taught by others can have the same effect on you as that learned by youself.
误：Anything taught by others can't have the same effect on you as that learned by youself.
同样的道理，以下各句的 nothing 也不可以改为 anything…not：
Nothing happened that night. 那天晚上没发生啥事。
Nothing can travel faster than light.什么东西也不如光走得快。
Nothing can make up for the loss of a child. 什么也弥补不了失去孩子的痛苦。
Nothing seemed to cure him of his nervousness. 仿佛什么都没法消除他的紧张。
如不可以说成：
Anything didn’t happen that night.（误）
Anything can’t travel faster than light.（误）
Anything can’t make up for the loss of a child.（误）
Anything didn’t seem to cure him of his nervousness.（误）
更多正误句供参考：
1. 哪个也没祝贺我过生日快乐。
误：Any one didn’t wish me a happy birthday.
正：No one wished me a happy birthday.
2. 无人了解延误是什么原因。
正：Nobody knew the reason for the delay.
误：Anybody didn’t know the reason for the delay.
3. 打那儿将来，就平安无事。
正：Nothing has happened since then.
误：Anything hasn’t happened since then.
