Phil And I'm Phil. Here's the question we're going to look at:
Question 你好,请教一下 “no” 与 “without” 后跟名词单复数的问题。
Phil This question looks at the determiner 'no', which refers to a zero quantity, and 'without', which as a preposition refers to something being absent. And this question is not just about whether nouns are plural or singular, but also whether they're countable or uncountable.
Examples There's no paper in the printer. You'll need to get some more. (打印机里没有纸了。你需要再拿一些来。)
We have no time today. Let's try tomorrow. (我们今天没有时间。咱们明天再试试。)
Jiaying 如果 “no” 后面跟的名词是可数的,那么多用这个名词的复数形式。听两个例句。
Examples There are no trains tomorrow. You'll have to get a bus. (明天没有火车运行。你必须得坐公共汽车。)
It was late and no students were left in the library. (那时已经很晚了,图书馆里没有学生了。)
Phil This sounds fairly straightforward, but there are some things to look out for. Some nouns can be either countable or uncountable, and this is often the case with food and drink related ones.
Phil We hope that we've answered your question. If you have a question that you'd like us to answer, you can email us too at: questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk