Negative Forms In English

BY NO MEANS -- Meaning: Not At All -- Based on a rough count, by no means definitive, they had about 625 tents set up last year. By no means am I saying this is a bad thing, but it is not a choice that I made. By no means did we settle on anything. By no means does he think children need to go through terrible times to be better people. By no means is he guaranteed to win. By no means is this fight over or even anywhere near under control. By no means let him dominate the conversation. By no means should individuals or groups be allowed to go that building. By no means should we be complacent with being second. | LITTLE -- Meaning: Small - [Little + Auxiliary Verb + Subject] - Little do managers and executives realize that delay is in itself a decision! Little do they know that she is better qualified than any of them in survival skills. Little do they know that the journey ahead is not going to be easy. Little do they know that their loss is actually a win for all of us, including for them. Little do we realize the exact meaning or the appropriate use of many terms. | BUT NOT -- But not for a minute did he make me feel angry. Embassy shutdowns happen, but not usually on this scale. Gender equality is still a goal, but not a present reality, for university campuses around the world. He could be right, but not for the reason he thinks. He has time for sports but not for family. He is clearly the strongest but not superhuman. He looks comfortable but not great. | NEVER -- Meaning: Not At Any Time/Not On Any Occasion -- Contractor left the work midway and never came back to finish it. He gave a press conference explaining he never did anything wrong in his career. He had to come clean but he never did. He never does anything for us. He never does anything truly charitable. He never went to class. He said he would text me after the weekend but never did. He thought he was never in with a chance of becoming a mayor last year. His wife is soft-spoken and never hurt anyone. I am ashamed that I saw injustice and never did anything about it. I am not sure he will even make the team, never mind have a big role. I am sure I will never forget this moment. I could never go back.