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Old 15-Jul-2007, 23:41
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Cool no instead of not

Hi,

In one of this site's quiz there is the following question:

Be careful she's ____ fool. I answer not instead of no . How come it's wrong? Don't we say he is not stupid? instead of He is no stupid.
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Old 16-Jul-2007, 00:47
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Default Re: no instead of not

We do say "he is not stupid." What follows ‘not’ should be an adjective - in this case ‘stupid’. ‘Fool’ is not an adjective but a noun. You should answer ‘no fool’ or ‘not a fool’ but not ‘not fool’. If the word ‘foolish’ (adjective) had been in the question, you would have answered correctly with ‘not’.
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Old 16-Jul-2007, 22:25
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Cool Re: no instead of not

Quote:
Originally Posted by Buddhaheart View Post
We do say "he is not stupid." What follows ‘not’ should be an adjective - in this case ‘stupid’. ‘Fool’ is not an adjective but a noun. You should answer ‘no fool’ or ‘not a fool’ but not ‘not fool’. If the word ‘foolish’ (adjective) had been in the question, you would have answered correctly with ‘not’.
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