Is it more natural to express "0" with a negative form?

Question

In English you could use two forms when expressing a sentence that has a plural form with a value of "0". For example:

You have 2 unread messages.

Could be either:

You have 0 unread messages.

Or the negative form:

You have no unread messages.

It would be the same thing in Chinese:

您有0条未读消息。

Or the negative form:

您没有未读消息。

Is using negative forms a common way to increase fluency in Chinese or are both forms equally fluent? In other words, if we could pick both form, would one be better than the other?

Also, is this a general recommendation or are there exceptions around this?

Answer 1

Like in most languages, expression of the concept of not having anything in Chinese is most naturally done as a negative, viz

您没有未读消息。

My English voicemail employs "You don't have any unread messages" in the same way.

However, the use of 零 líng + a classifier like 個 gè is attested, albeit in very limited contexts, most commonly in temperature (to "count" 0 degrees of the scale, e.g. 零度).

Answer 2

I think in the context that you have described, which is a pre-formatted text that is used in computer programs, both would be seen to be equally acceptable because the context is clear and there is no real ambiguity as to why it is expressed in one or the other manner.

However, if we are talking about a natural conversational setting then it obviously makes more sense to express zero with a negative form. I thought it was just worth pointing out that the context is quite important if you are considering whether the expression is naturally or not when translated or in native form of another language.