There is not water in the lake.

[optimistic pessimist]

Dear all,

Do you say, "There isn't water in the lake"?

Or is it better to say, "There isn't any water in the lake"

or "There is no water in the lake"?

Thank you

OP

 

[GoesStation]

The second or third versions are correct. I prefer the last one because it's shorter.

 

[SoothingDave]

The lake is dry.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I'd say "There's no water in the lake."

But - no water, no lake!

So how about:

- What happened to the lake?
- Who drained the lake?
- Where did all the water go?
- Hey! There used to be a lake here!
- Good grief! Wasn't this a lake?
- Wow. Thirsty fish.

 

[GoesStation]

Lots of lakes in the American Southwest usually don't contain any water.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Lots of lakes in the American Southwest usually don't contain any water.

Yup! I know. I used to live in Nevada.

It's like the old joke about the cowboy who goes off to college in New York. When graduates and comes home, his friends meet him at the train station, and they're full of questions. What were the skyscrapers like? What was the subway like? What was Times Square like?

He's having a great time telling them everything he knows about New York. Then someone says, "What was the Hudson River like?"

And he says, "Derned if I know. It was always full of water!"