do nothing
To not take any actionTo not take any action; to fail to do or accomplish something.
» The girl did nothing but cry.
Девочка только и делала, что плакала. — odexed
Девушка только и делала, что плакала. — marafon
Дівчина лише й робила, що плакала. — aandrusiak
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 sensesTo not take any action; to fail to do or accomplish something.
"That colour does nothing for you" "Argh! And you do nothing but complain bout everything!"
The new zero tolerance rules did nothing to make the school safer and improve its atmosphere; in fact, these rules may have made the school less safe and less desirable instead.
Examples
688 sentencesThe girl did nothing but cry.
Дівчина лише й робила, що плакала. — aandrusiak
ruДевочка только и делала, что плакала. — odexed
I want you to do nothing.
Я хочу, щоб ти нічого не робив. — deniko
ruЯ хочу, чтобы ты ничего не делал. — marafon
You'll do nothing of the kind.
Ти нічого такого не зробиш. — shanghainese
deDu wirst nichts dergleichen tun! — Pfirsichbaeumchen
Tom says he did nothing wrong.
Том каже, що не зробив нічого поганого. — deniko
ruТом говорит, что не сделал ничего плохого. — sharptoothed
Tom says he did nothing illegal.
Том каже, що не зробив нічого незаконного. — deniko
ruТом говорит, что не сделал ничего незаконного. — marafon
Forms
does nothing, doing nothing, did nothing, done nothing| Base form | do nothing · to do nothing |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | does nothing |
| Present participle | doing nothing |
| Past simple | did nothing |
| Past participle | done nothing |
irregular · Lesson
Lessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, irregular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle