Nothing means 'not a single thing', or 'not a single part of something'. You use a singular form of a verb with nothing.
Be Careful!
You don't usually use any other negative word such as 'not' after nothing. Don't say, for example, 'Nothing didn't happen'. You say 'Nothing happened'. Similarly, don't use 'nothing' as the object of a sentence which already has a negative word in it. Don't say, for example, 'I couldn't hear nothing'. Say 'I couldn't hear anything.'
Nothing but is used in front of a noun phrase or an infinitive without to to mean 'only'. For example, instead of saying 'In the fridge there was only a piece of cheese', you can say 'In the fridge there was nothing but a piece of cheese'.
Noun | 1. | ![]() relative quantity - a quantity relative to some purpose nihil - (Latin) nil; nothing (as used by a sheriff after an unsuccessful effort to serve a writ); "nihil habet" Fanny Adams, sweet Fanny Adams - little or nothing at all; "I asked for a raise and they gave me bugger-all"; "I know sweet Fanny Adams about surgery" |
Adv. | 1. | nothing - in no respect; to no degree; "he looks nothing like his father" |