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What is the difference between "no good" and "not good"?
Aug 20, 2012 4:30 PM
Answers · 4
"no good" refers the condition of something that is not of being good quality. Not good means bad.
August 20, 2012
Sometimes it is a matter of preference. Other times, it can give more specific meaning.
Example: if I buy an item that is cheaply made and it breaks right away, I would say it's no good. It doesn't work at all, it's useless, so it does me no good to have it. I might also say "this is no good" if I grabbed the wrong tool to fix something. The tool works, but not for what I need to fix.
On the other hand, if someone falls and hurts their shoulder, I might say "ohh, that's not good". The shoulder isn't useless, but it hurts and doesn't work as well as usual. It's not a good thing to have happen. I might also say "that's not good" if someone lost something like an expensive book or a phone. It's not terrible, but not good to have happen.
August 20, 2012
It depends on the sentence and situation it is being used in. They can be used interchangeably sometimes and other times they cannot. It has nothing to do with tenses. Your question is too vague to answer I'm afraid.
August 20, 2012
For me personally, it just depends on how you read it in the sentence. Most of the time though, I would think that "no good" would be used more for past tense type. "Not good" seems like it would be used more for talking about things that could happen in the future. I'll give an example.
The girl cracked her head open, and it was "no good". - It already happened, it happened in the past.
If the girl falls, she is going to crack her head open, and that is "not good". - This will happen if the girl falls. (Future)
August 20, 2012
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