What is the difference between no even a and not even a? Are they both interchangeable and equally correct? [EXAMPLES]:
- There is not even a single pen.
- There is no even a single pen.
- I have not even a single pen.
- I have no even a single pen.
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1Did you find "no even" used somewhere this way?– user3169Jun 24, 2015 at 21:20
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@user3169 Yes, I searched on Google and found a number of results having "no even a".– GurpreetJun 25, 2015 at 2:22
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Please add a couple of such quotes to your question. I suspect that it is a conjunction of two phrases, such as "I have to say no, even if..." (with or without the comma).– user3169Jun 25, 2015 at 2:59
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All the results I found in a quick search were either probable typos or written by people who aren't native English speakers.– ssavJun 26, 2015 at 13:49
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2 Answers
You are mixing two phrases:
- There is no pen.
- There is a single pen. -> There is not a single pen. -> There is not even a single pen.
Basically both sentences express the absence of something, the latter having a stonger emphasis.
But you can't write: There is no even a single pen.
"Not even a" is correct. In some English dialects, speakers will drop the t and say "No even a single one." as a form of slang, but this is not correct.
