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no

UK /nəʊ/determiner, adverb, particle, preposition, noun, verb

no is spelled N-O: 2 letters and one syllable. It appears 2,239 times per million words in written English, the 52nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “know vs no” about 390 times a month (Google, United States). As a determiner, no means “Not any” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in no?

Letters2: N-O
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing2,239 times per million words; the 52nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is no?

No appears 2,239 times per million words in written English, the 52nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce no?

  • UK /nəʊ/
  • /no/
  • /noː/

No has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-no.ogg, En-us-no.ogg, En-nz-no.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with no

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

know vs no390 G

Sounds like: know, noh (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: no thanks, yeah no.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with no?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as no from its last stressed vowel (/əʊ/, British pronunciation):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of no

  • nos. plural
  • noes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • nos plural
  • noing participle, present
  • noed participle, past
  • №
  • no.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does no mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

determiner

  1. 1

    Not any.

    no one

  2. 2

    Hardly any.

    We'll be finished in no time at all.

  3. 3

    Not any possibility or allowance of (something).

    No smoking. No parking.

  4. 4

    Not (a); not properly, not really; not fully.

    My mother's no fool.

adverb

  1. 1

    Used before different, before comparatives with more and less, and idiomatically before other comparatives.

    It is a less physical kind of torture, but no less gruesome.

  2. 2

    informalUsed idiomatically before certain other adjectives.

    This thing is no good.

  3. 3

    ScotlandinformalNot.

    I just want to find out whether she's coming or no.

  4. 4

    colloquialNot, does not, do not, etc.

    Ug no like veggie.

particle

  1. 1

    Used to show disagreement, negation, denial, refusal, or prohibition.

    No, you are mistaken.

  2. 2

    Used to express sadness or disappointment.

    "We lost." "No!"

  3. 3

    Used to express disbelief.

    I got the job! / No! Really? That's fantastic!

  4. 4

    Used to show agreement with a negative question.

    "Don’t you like milk?" "No." (i.e., "No, I don’t like milk.")

  5. 5

    colloquialUsed together with an affirmative word or phrase to show agreement.

    No, totally.

preposition

  1. 1

    Without.

    Look Ma, no hands!

  2. 2

    Like.

noun

  1. 1

    A negating expression; an answer that shows disagreement, denial, refusal, or disapproval.

  2. 2

    A vote not in favor, or opposing a proposition.

    The workers voted on whether to strike, and there were thirty yeses and two nos.

  3. 3

    Alternative form of No.

verb

  1. 1

    colloquialTo say “no”.

  2. 2

    colloquialTo answer with “no”; to decline, reject.

noun

as nō
  1. 1

    Alternative form of noh.

adjective

as NO
  1. 1

    Initialism of normally open.

noun

as No
  1. 1

    Alternative form of No..

  2. 2

    Alternative form of Noh: a form of classical Japanese drama.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

No in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpas de, nul, aucun (not any), défense de, interdiction de, interdit (used to show an activity is forbidden)
Germankein (not any), verboten (used to show an activity is forbidden), nein, nee, nö (used to show disagreement or negation), Nein (a negating expression)
Portuguesenenhum, nada de (not any), é proibido, sem (used to show an activity is forbidden), não (used to show disagreement or negation), né (used to show agreement with a negative question…)
Spanishno, ninguno, ninguna, ningún, nada de, nel (not any)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does no come from?

Inherited from Middle English no, noo, na, a reduced form of none, noon, nan (“none, not any”) used before consonants (compare a to an), from Old English nān (“none, not any”), from Proto-West Germanic *nain, from Proto-Germanic *nainaz (“not any”, literally “not one”), equivalent to ne (“not”) + a. Piecewise doublet of none.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after no