6 Quick Fixes: Ask and Tell; Not with Anything and Nothing

Tools

Ask and tell

Ask

You use ask when there is a question in our statement.

  • My mother asked me if I ate my breakfast. (Did you eat your breakfast?)

Tell

You use tell when we are making a statement.

  • My mother told me to eat my breakfast. (Eat your breakfast.)

Practice

Quiz

INSTRUCTIONS: Choose ask or tell to complete each sentence. Remember to use appropriate capitalization if the word begins a sentence.

  1. I want to __________________ you something important about work.
  2. I am going to __________________her if she will marry me.
  3. Did you __________________him if you could come over?
  4. I want to __________________you that I passed the test.
  5. She called to __________________you that she found your wallet.
  6. I was going to __________________you if I could come to see you now.
  7. __________________me how old you are.
  8. __________________me questions to help me study for the final exam.
  9. They want to __________________you if they can borrow some money.
  10. We need to __________________if you can get there by bus.

Not with nothing and anything

Not with nothing

You don’t use not with nothing. This a “double negative”, and you don’t usually use double negatives in standard English.

  • There’s not nothing in the newspaper today that is interesting.

Not with anything

You use not with anything.

  • There’s not anything in the newspaper today that is interesting.

Or you use nothing alone.

  • There’s nothing in the newspaper today that is interesting.

Practice

Quiz

INSTRUCTIONS: Choose nothing or anything to complete the sentences below. Remember to use appropriate capitalization if the word begins a sentence.

  1. I don’t have __________________to do after lunch.
  2. There isn’t __________________in the box; it’s empty.
  3. It’s not a big deal, but on the other hand, I wouldn’t say it’s __________________.
  4. She can’t do __________________without more money.
  5. He won’t do __________________ about the problem.
  6. Wonderful! There’s __________________left to do. You did all the work.
  7. Wonderful! There’s not __________________left to do. You did all the work.
  8. There isn’t __________________to drink in the refrigerator.
  9. I don’t think __________________is wrong with the computer; do you?
  10. __________________is a secret with my daughter; she knows everything about me.

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