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According to jlptsensei and other sources (google), for the 何も〜ない construct, all of verbs, nouns, and adjectives can be used. But however, from all of the sources and my intuition, I can't find examples of using either noun nor adj. in this construct. Does anyone have any examples? Or is it that only verbs are used here?

e.g.

  • 何もしていません　（verb: する）
  • 何もしたくないです (only class of adjectives I can think of stems from a verb, e.g.: したい)
  • この話題について何も知っていることがない (verb: ある)

but, I don't see how nouns and other adjectives fit in here, e.g.:

  • X 何もケーキじゃないです
  • X 何も熱いじゃないです
nayfaan
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  • What are you trying to say with something like 何もケーキじゃないです? Do you know how to naturally translate the three bulleted points into English or what the 何も〜ない structure conveys? – A.Ellett Aug 03 '21 at 00:00
  • Do you want 何 to be the subject of the sentence, or is 何も working as an adverb, like 全然, also good? – aguijonazo Aug 03 '21 at 00:06
  • @A.Ellett exactly the "X" in front meant this sentence does not make sense – nayfaan Aug 03 '21 at 00:48
  • @aguijonazo 何も working as an adverb – nayfaan Aug 03 '21 at 00:48
  • I knew what you meant by the X, but I was wondering whether you had in mind a meaning that you were trying to achieve (even if initially you knew you were missing the mark). Essentially, I was asking for clarification. – A.Ellett Aug 03 '21 at 03:44
  • @A.Ellett i think i know what the `何も〜ない` means. The 3 bullets meant - I am not doing anything at all - I dont want to do anything at all - I dont know anything at all about this topic (lit. about this topic, the thing that I know about is nothing at all) – nayfaan Aug 04 '21 at 01:14

2 Answers2

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With an i-adjective, you can say:

この本は何も面白くない。
This book is not interesting at all.

何も熱くないよ。
It's not hot at all!

Keep in mind that i-adjectives don't take だ.

With a noun, for example you can say:

彼には何も欠点がない。
He has no faults at all.

何も欲しいものはない。
I want nothing at all.

Use 何も only in the context of choosing one type of thing from many possibilities. When the noun is countable and you want to say there is not even one, you should use 1つもない, 1本もない, 1円もない and so on. Compare the following:

ここには何も本がない。
There is not even one (type of) book here whatsoever.

ここには1冊も本がない。
There is not even one book here.

EDIT: If you wanted to say "This is not a book by any means", you should say まったく instead. (何も is not incorrect in colloquial speech, though)

これはまったく本ではない。
This is not a book by any means. (It's a tablet.)

これは絶対に本ではない。
This is absolutely not a book.

naruto
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  • @aguijonazo I edited my answer, but I assumed OP wanted to say "There is no cake" rather than "This is not a cake by any means". The original link seems to be a fairly elementary introduction of `何も + ない`. – naruto Aug 03 '21 at 00:42
  • @naruto, exactly, I was trying to say that the `何も〜ではない` doesnt make sense to me, but none the less it was listed on most reference sites, so i was thinking if I was missing something – nayfaan Aug 03 '21 at 00:51
  • @naruto for your answer in い-adj., didnt know they could be used with `何も〜ない` I always used `全然〜ない` for adjs. also, i think the ない adjs should take だ just like everything else for formal constructions? e.g. `この本は何も面白くないです。` – nayfaan Aug 03 '21 at 00:54
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    @nayfaan Note that this type of 何も has a connotation of "whatsoever", "no matter what" or "by any means". In a sense, 全然 is simpler. 何もケーキではない *can* mean "This is not a cake no matter what", but I think it's better to use まったく in formal speech. – naruto Aug 03 '21 at 00:56
  • @nayfaan If you mean a sentence like 赤いです or 面白いです, see [this](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/15304/5010), [this](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/35951/5010), [this](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/43244/5010) and [this](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/63108/5010). – naruto Aug 03 '21 at 01:00
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You could use a noun with 何も to express your opinion that something doesn’t qualify as the said noun at all.

何も悲劇ではない。
It is not a tragedy at all (although some may call it a tragedy).

何も名案ではない。
It is not a good idea at all (although some may claim it to be).

aguijonazo
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  • hmm... interesting, have not come across these kind of usages anywhere else yet. Does that translate to English in the lines of something like "There is nothing about this that is a [tragedy]" – nayfaan Aug 04 '21 at 01:15
  • @nayfaan: It’s hard for me to tell the difference between “X is not Y at all” and “there is nothing about X that is Y” in English. The Japanese doesn’t necessarily mean “no portion of X is Y” if that’s what you are asking. It's basically the same as denying the whole of X as Y with まったく. It’s usually used with nouns that express one’s judgment or evaluation, not those that reference concrete stuff such as ケーキ and 本. – aguijonazo Aug 04 '21 at 09:08