I look back on this period with nothing but pleasure.
He heard no one but his uncles.
Indefinite pronouns and adverbs that begin with any can be used in similar structures. However, in these structures but means except, rather than only.
I could never speak about anything but business to Ivan.
He never spoke to anyone but his wife.
neither and nor
5.75 Neither and nor are used together to say that two alternatives are not possible, likely, or true. Neither goes in front of the first alternative and nor goes in front of the second one.
Neither Margaret nor John was there.
They had neither food nor money until the end of the week.
neither in replies
5.76 Neither can be used on its own as a reply, to refer to two alternatives that have already been mentioned.
‘Does that mean yes or no?’ – ‘Neither’.
5.77 If a clause contains a negative word, particularly not, you can use neither or nor to negate a second clause. In the second clause, you put neither or nor first, followed by the verb, followed by the subject.
This isn’t a dazzling achievement, but neither is it a negligible one.
These people are not insane, nor are they fools.
If there is an auxiliary, it is placed in front of the subject in the second clause.
The organization had broken no rules, but neither had it acted responsibly.
I don’t feel any shame. Neither do I think I should.
neither with singular nouns
5.78 Neither can be used on its own in front of a singular noun referring to each of two things when you are making a negative statement about both of them. For example, Neither partner benefited from the agreement means that there were two partners and the negative statement applies to both of them.
Neither report mentioned the Americans.
Neither film was particularly good.
Neither sex has a monopoly on thought or emotion.
Neither parent is the good one or the bad one.
Note that in this structure neither is used with a singular verb.
neither of
5.79 When neither is followed by of, it makes a set of two things negative. Neither of is followed by a plural noun phrase.
Neither of us was having any luck.
Neither of the boys screamed.
Neither of them was making any sound.
Neither of is normally used with a singular verb.
Neither of these extremes is desirable.
Neither of these opinions proves anything.
However, it is also possible to use a plural verb.
Neither of the children were there.
Broad negatives: hardly, seldom, etc.
5.80 Another way in which you can make a statement negative is by using a broad negative. Broad negatives are adverbs like rarely and seldom, which are used to make a statement almost totally negative.
The estimated sales will hardly cover the cost of making the film.
We were scarcely able to move.
Kuwait lies barely 30 miles from the Iranian coast.
Here is a list of the most common broad negatives:
barely
hardly
rarely
scarcely
seldom
position in clause
5.81 The position of a broad negative within a clause is similar to that of never (see paragraphs 5.64 to 5.66).
5.82 When you use a broad negative with a verb phrase that contains an auxiliary verb, you put it after the first word in the verb phrase and in front of the main verb.
I could scarcely believe my eyes.
Religion was rarely discussed in our house.
His eyes had hardly closed.
with simple form of be
5.83 If the verb is the present simple or past simple of be, the broad negative usually comes after the verb.
Change is seldom easy.
The new pressure group is barely six months old.
The office was hardly ever empty.
The lagoons are rarely deep.
The results were scarcely encouraging.
with other verbs
5.84 If the verb is the present simple or past simple of any verb except be, the broad negative usually comes in front of the verb.
He seldom bathed.
Marsha rarely felt hungry.
John hardly ever spoke to the Press.
It is also possible to put a broad negative after the verb, but this is less common.
Such moments happen rarely in life.
They met so seldom.
as first word in the clause
5.85 In formal or literary English, a broad negative is sometimes placed at the beginning of a clause for emphasis. If you are using a verb phrase with an auxiliary, the first word in the verb phrase is placed after the broad negative, followed by the subject and then the remainder of the verb phrase.
Seldom has society offered so wide a range of leisure time activities.
Hardly had he settled into his seat when Adam charged in.
If there is no auxiliary, you put the present simple or past simple of do after the broad negative, followed by the subject, followed by the base form of the main verb.
Seldom did a week pass without a request for assessment.
Rarely do local matches live up to expectations.
Note that barely and scarcely are not often used in this way.
5.86 If you make a question tag out of a statement that contains a broad negative, the tag on the end of the statement is normally in the affirmative, as it is with other negatives. Question tags are explained in paragraphs 5.15 to 5.19.