How to use "nothing" in a sentence

It seems there's nothing to worry about

But when I pull, nothing happens

1.00 pm I've spent four hours trying to lift the boulder, but nothing has worked.

At first, there's nothing

I make the rope even shorter, but when I step on it, nothing happens

There is nothing else I can do to save myself.

Already that morning, his men had searched the top and centre of the area and found nothing.

I've discovered that nothing I can do will help me escape

But it's better to be doing something than nothing

We could see nothing around us

There was nothing more to say

He thought nothing could stop him, his men or his ship.

There is nothing else to say."

Alice's sister had a book, but Alice had nothing with her

But nothing happened - she stayed the same size

The Duchess did nothing, but the baby started to cry

The Mad Hatter opened his eyes very wide, but he said nothing

'You can have more than nothing.'

So he smiled and said nothing.

But now there was nothing above Alices head - not an eye or an ear or a smile

I wasn't clever enough at the lessons, and there was nothing that anybody could do about it

It was terrible! People on fire, and nothing that we could do

We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote

The people themselves can do this also if they choose; but the executive, as such, has nothing to do with it

I, therefore, venture to suggest to my learned countrymen that so long as the doctrine of non-cooperation remains non-violent, so long there is nothing unconstitutional in that doctrine.

I ask, is it unconstitutional for a policeman or for a soldier to tender his resignation when he knows that he is called to serve a Government which traduces his own countrymen? Is it unconstitutional for me to go to the agriculturist and say to him "it's not wise for you to pay any taxes, if these taxes are used by the Government not to raise you but to weaken you?" I hold and I venture to submit, that there is nothing unconstitutional in it

I submit that in the whole plan of non-cooperation, there is nothing unconstitutional

Still he said nothing.

'I passed this place at 3.15,' Constable Neil said, 'but there was nothing here.'

Mrs Purkiss was awake most of the night, and Mr Purkiss slept badly and was awake between one and two o'clock, but they heard nothing

One of them walked through Goulston Street just before 2.15, but saw nothing suspicious and returned to Mitre Square

At 2.20 Constable Alfred Long also walked along Goulston Street and saw nothing unusual

The Juwes are the Men that will not be blamed for nothing.

Constable Watkins saw nothing in Mitre Square at 1.30

Mrs Lewis did nothing because cries like this were usual in Whitechapel

He looked around but could see nothing in the darkness - just a purple mist rising slowly from the fields.

Mme Thenardier looked at Fantine thoughtfully, but said nothing.

Mme Thenardier still said nothing, but a man's voice from inside the house called, 'We'll take seven francs a month, and six months in advance.'

Although she was careful to say nothing about her daughter to anyone, other women at the factory soon discovered her secret

Champmathieu went home in a state of total confusion, thinking all men mad and understanding nothing of what had happened.

Cosette said nothing, speechless with fear as the woman raised her arm to hit her

A poor man, Georges Pontmercy had left his son nothing apart from a letter:

Then one day, as he was passing, thinking about nothing in particular, the girl looked up at him and their eyes met

Marius still said nothing, and after a moments pause she said, 'You don't seem very glad to see me, but I could make you look happy if I wanted to!'

Again, when she looked round, she saw nothing

He spent the next two nights walking around the garden, checking the gate, listening for noises, but nothing unusual happened.

For six weeks, he had known nothing but uncomplicated happiness

There was nothing for him to do except die.

For a moment, nothing happened

Night fell, but nothing happened

When the man said nothing, Enjolras became suspicious.

Marius gazed into the shadows, but could still see nothing.

Please Monsieur, if I can't see Cosette again, I'll have nothing left to live for

'I'll tell you the first part for nothing

'I repeat, you have nothing to tell me.'

'To die is nothing,' he murmured

There is nothing else that matters in this world except love.'

I look carefully at my clothes, but they mean nothing

So I empty my pockets, and at first there is nothing helpful there: no wallet, no keys and no phone

There is nothing cruel about the face, but I know instantly that this is the man that has Catherine, and I hate that face with all of my heart.

He looks at the newspaper for a moment but says nothing.

For a moment there is nothing; then the fans start.

And then there is nothing but chaos.

"No, Darling, she means nothing to me, less than nothing

The man laughs, stands up and says nothing.

"He wants to kill me." Branwell says nothing but watches the woman's face

I turn on the lights, and I see nothing, but when I go to the window, I can see him in the field

There's nothing."

"And you remember where the cameras are? The NYPD ones? The others are nothing

In fact, the man does nothing at all

He expects to hear a shout, but there is nothing

So you can tell them what you want, but they can do nothing, and you are still here in Bristol, and so is my family

He understands, and she is right: there is nothing he can do.

But there is no time, and there is nothing he can do

He wants to say something, but without proof he has nothing, and the judge can do nothing.

The cop looks at him and nods, but says nothing

For a moment he does nothing

He can see nothing because of the trees, but he knows he is very near

"Er, a grammar school, Sir." And Smith nods his head and says nothing.

Sometimes he prefers to have a sherry and a cigar and nothing more

"Look," says Cliff, "it was nothing, really

"I'm sure it's nothing."

What a beauty, hey, lad?" And he looks to his son, Owen Junior, and he wants to see a smile on the boy's pale face, but, like always, there is nothing but disinterest.

"Come on, Son, this is going to be great fun," he says, and Junior follows him but says nothing.

And yes, the last time they came to the forest, it was a bit cold, and they had nothing to do.

For a moment there is nothing, but then two long, grey shapes appear in the clear water, and Jimmy starts to shout again.

Honestly, it's nothing

It's nothing, he'd said

"So, where did it come front?" Gran, still pale, said nothing.

There was one from Niki, but nothing from Cham, so she began a message to him

It's nothing, really

You never earned many, but it was better than nothing - and a good way to exercise, and get out of your apartment.

"Oh, nothing

What was going on? Was it some kind of game? Sala wondered whether to tell Gran, but there was nothing new to say

I'll see you again, the woman had said: well, then, there was really nothing to do but wait.

There was nothing at all

Gran said nothing more, but her eyes were shining

Sala looked out at the view: nothing but black and silver tower blocks against the cold gray sky

Many of the other students still talked about nothing but Pod Life, but she didn't care.

I've been trying to send a message for many years, but nothing has crossed the boundary successfully

At last, when Dani and Tian had nothing more to ask, Leti smiled and spoke quietly to another technician, who was standing nearby

Surely, this wasn't really going to happen? But there was nothing she could do

She had lost sight of the woman - where had she gone? She tried to message Cham, but nothing happened

She'd never considered it before, when she'd had nothing to hide

But we don't know that what this woman says is true - and nothing can happen right now anyway."

Now they had nothing

"That was nothing," said Sala hurriedly

"Nothing, nothing," said Gran.

If the government came asking them questions, it would be better, for now, that he knew nothing at all.

The waiter was at the other end of the restaurant and saw nothing

I have no family and there is nothing else I can do.'

'You haven't got enough to do and so you are doing nothing,' she said unpleasantly

'I'm young, I know nothing

But I know nothing about you, nothing - except that you live at Manderley and..

Maxim was smiling, but he said nothing about being happy

He said nothing about love

I remember nothing of what she said

Maxim noticed nothing

'Oh, nothing much,' said Maxim

Maxim had told me nothing

The man said nothing, but stared at me in the same stupid way.

There was nothing more to say

I decided to put my new books in the library and I said nothing about the cupid.

Robert says he knows nothing about it.'

My little maid, Clarice, spoke of nothing else.

I said nothing to Maxim

Maxim and Frank asked me about my costume but I told them nothing

Soon there would be nothing to remind us of the Fancy Dress Ball.

'But I changed nothing here

But even then, she cared for nothing and nobody

I sat on the cliffs for a long time doing nothing, thinking of nothing.

When people have a great shock, they feel nothing at first

But I could feel nothing now.

There's nothing we can do.'

There is nothing to show what I did

I said nothing.

There was nothing wrong with that boat when I last saw it

'I have nothing more to say.' Favell laughed.

Maxim said nothing.

'She was afraid of nothing and no one

While Dr Baker was out of the room, we said nothing

'There was nothing to be done,' he went on

But that was nothing to do with her illness.'

Brad says nothing to Bud.

Nathan is angry, but he says nothing

Natalie laughs, and says nothing.

In other years that date had meant nothing special

Neddler, the cleaning lady who came in twice a week, to vacuum and dust his unused bedroom as if nothing had happened to him

She was positive that nothing had been written on the board when Danny had gone away on that scouting trip

Although she wasn't much of a drinker, indulging in nothing more than a glass of wine now and then, with no capacity whatsoever for hard liquor, she finished the bourbon in two swallows

She had at least enough time to make a start, box up the boy's clothes, if nothing else.

Tina wanted to stay in the wings throughout the performance, but she could do nothing more behind the curtains

The person who paid a fair price for something was likely to place far more value on it than the one who got the same item for nothing

Knowing this feast had been laid on for the party, few of those present had eaten dinner, and most of the dancers had eaten nothing since a light lunch

"For one thing, nothing was taken."

Perhaps he'd had nothing to do with it.

The insufferable bastard! She was furious, but she said nothing; she didn't trust herself to speak, afraid that she would start screaming at him the instant she opened her mouth.

Between the names of two high rollers were five lines of type that had nothing to do with the information she had requested:

She had nothing to lose by trying to follow the data chain

She started around Angela's desk, wanting nothing more at the moment than to get off her rubbery legs and onto a chair - and suddenly the door to the hall opened, and she cried out in alarm.

Elliot said nothing

She said nothing.

But when he returned, she kissed him tentatively, found that nothing had changed, and pressed against him once more.

"Her husband would be engaged in nothing more than spiteful obstructionism

The judge's hesitation in this relatively simple matter struck Elliot as odd, but he said nothing more

Too late, he saw the sign at the fourth intersection - NOT A THROUGH STREET - but they were already around the corner and headed down the narrow dead end, with nothing but a row of ten modest stucco houses on each side.

In that instant Tina realized she had nothing to fear from the presence that lay behind this eerie manifestation

But when Bruckster had come into the hotel thirty minutes ago, Evans had been chatting with the players at his blackjack table, cracking jokes, and grinning as if nothing of any importance had happened in his life lately.

In a few seconds, the medium would evaporate too, leaving nothing unusual to arouse the initial attending physician's suspicion.

Alexander knew nothing of hard work; he had ascended to the top of his field as if he were a prince with a divine right to rule.

The whole family was nothing but a bunch of hypocrites

When they had landed, they'd been alert for unusual activity on the runway and in the private-craft docking yard - suspicious vehicles, an unusual number of ground crewmen - but they had seen nothing out of the ordinary

Elliot strained his eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of movement beyond the rectangles of glass, but he saw nothing suspicious.

They wanted nothing more than to touch and to be touched, to confirm for each other that they were still alive, to feel safe and protected and cherished

These diplomatic and intelligence-gathering assignments were never an insult to his family name, but they were always minor postings to embassies in smaller countries like Iceland and Ecuador and Tonga, nothing for which The New York Times would deign to acknowledge his existence.

Tina stared at the map and tried to think of nothing but the appealing greens, blues, yellows, and pinks that the cartographers had used to indicate various types of terrain

Still nothing.

It's nothing fancy

"Not much insurance, but better than nothing."

For two hundred yards ahead, until the road curved once more, nothing threatening was in sight.

Not a single tree or any other sizable object remained, nothing behind which a man could hide

He was a rag doll with only meager scraps of stuffing, a fragile and timorous creature, nothing whatsoever like the happy, vibrant, active boy that he had once been

If you haven't yet read The Eyes of Darkness, I am giving away nothing important in the story when I tell you that eventually, in a search for her lost son, Tina ventures into the High Sierras in winter, where she comes across a paved road, in the middle of the wilderness, that features heating coils under the pavement to prevent snow from sticking to it

'I didn't understand what he meant, and nothing happened for a few weeks, so I did not feel so worried

They think that there's nothing to worry about.'

Sherlock Holmes is a very clever detective, but he can do nothing about the weather

About his death, however, she would say nothing more than that she had killed him with the steam hammer

She opened her mouth, but said nothing; only her eyes seemed to be screaming with fear.

I promised Andre that fly would be destroyed, and I can say nothing until it is.'

But if you don't, there'll be nothing more I can do, because Commissaire Charas will have the fly.'

I was quite angry, but my husband was so miserable that I said nothing.

'Ah, yes I heard that Madame Delambre had been writing a lot, but we could find nothing but the short note informing us that she was taking her own life.'

'The Colonel accused him of knowing nothing about archaeology.'

Griselda paused, then said, 'You do believe me, don't you? When I say there's nothing between Lawrence and me.'

I said nothing.

But I felt worried because I now knew that Anne Protheroe was the kind of woman who would stop at nothing when her emotions took control

'But you're wrong about there being nothing worth stealing

I mean that he had nothing to do with it.'

'And we did nothing wrong

I will only say that nothing which was discussed had anything to do with the crime.'

Mrs Lestrange said nothing.

'Oh, nothing! We were just talking.'

We must say nothing to anybody about the suitcase

I hoped it would get her into trouble.' I told her that I would return the earring to Anne and say nothing about how I had found it.

Well, this proves he had nothing to do with the murder.'

'But it's probably got nothing to do with the case,' I continued

'Well, anyway, there is nothing you can do,' Melchett said

We looked at her and said nothing

'Suppose Dr Haydock mentioned that Mrs Sadler had seen him changing the pills in Mr Hawes' box - well, if Mr Redding is innocent, that would mean nothing to him

But when she had found nothing, she had dropped Anne's earring by the desk.

However, the next day there was no report in the newspapers except one small note in the Daily Telegraph, and the world knew nothing of one of the greatest dangers that ever threatened Earth.

I think they understood that nothing could be done for the moment, and had gone away to have breakfast at Henderson's house

At about eleven, as nothing was happening, I walked back, full of such thoughts, to my home in Maybury.

I went into my garden and stood listening, but towards the common there was nothing moving.

He was a medical student, working for an examination, and he heard nothing of the arrival until Saturday morning

Even the afternoon papers had nothing to tell apart from the movement of soldiers around the common, and the burning of the woods between Woking and Weybridge

But there was almost nothing to tell people until the government announced that the people of Walton and Weybridge, and all chat district, were pouring along the roads towards London.

Then he crossed the room and began to dress, running with each piece of clothing to the window in order to miss nothing of the growing excitement

When, an hour later, a Martian walked down the river, there was nothing but broken pieces of boats in the water.

All this time the steamboat was moving steadily out to sea and away from the fight, and when at last the steam cleared, the black cloud got in the way and they could see nothing of either the Thunder Child or the third Martian

We saw nothing of them the next day

On that day and the next I had no food and nothing to drink.

There's nothing we can do

The voice grew stronger and stronger, although I could see nothing above the roof-tops on the north side of the park except some smoke to the north-west.

I know nothing of the next three days

I learned nothing new except that already in one week the examination of the Martians' machines had produced amazing results

It may have nothing to do with what happened afterwards, but I thought that I should mention it.

'Now we can do nothing except wait for Mr Munro to call us, and then we will see if my theory is correct.'

George always thinks he is ill, but there is really nothing wrong with him.

'On the river there's nothing for me to do

There is nothing poetic about Harris

He tells everyone what to do, and he does nothing.

Harris said nothing

Harris said, 'George! Why can't George be here to do some work? Why doesn't he help us with this heavy boat? What does he do at the bank? He sits behind a piece of glass all day and does nothing

George said, 'You do nothing but eat and sleep, Harris

There was nothing else to do, so we went to bed

'What do you mean, nothing new?' said Connie

Don't worry, I've done nothing wrong - but there's been an accident

I'd heard nothing

And even though they are opposed, and even though I will be victorious, I want Miss Halcombe to know how much I admire her diary and that nothing in it contributed to my victory and her failure.

Mr Kyrle investigated and told me that he saw nothing suspicious

Fear nothing! No one will follow you or your lovely companion if you leave us in peace

I wondered why so little space had been given to the record of Sir Felix's marriage, but apart from that there was nothing unusual about it

For a long time I had felt nothing but hatred for Sir Percival, but I could not watch as he burnt to death in the vestry

She remembered nothing of that painful time

Please tell me nothing about him