There was nobody there? or There wasn't anybody there?
Hello. If you can help me to understand this, I'll be grateful. What's the difference between this two phrases?, When I should use it? what's more common?
Thanks.
I agree with the previous two answers. Both are correct.
Just be careful not to mix the two, as in "there wasn't nobody there" as this would be a double negative, and wouldn't be grammatically correct.
2018年9月17日
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"There was nobody there"..."There" (specific location) was "nobody" (literally no-body) "there" (in that same specific location)
"There wasn't anybody there"..."There (specific location) "wasn't" (indicating the noun/subject is going to be negative/no) "anybody" (which is an existing noun, but that "wasn't" changed it into a non-existing noun) "there" (in that same specific location)
I believe that there are both interchangeable...they both lead to the same end message. Both sentences are just worded differently.
2018年9月17日
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Hi,
We'd usually use the first of these, which sounds more natural than the second. That would also be more common. But the second one is OK.
Best wishes
Steve