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Post Closed as "Duplicate" by tchrist♦
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"I don't think anybody saw it coming."

I assume that this sentence means that the speaker thinks nobody saw it coming, but can't this pattern "I don't think anybody X" be took as "I think that not everybody X (but I think some X,)" in some context? Do

In other words, do you always take the example sentence I quoted from this article as "I think nobody saw it coming," not as "I think not everybody saw it coming, but I believe some did at least?"

"I don't think anybody saw it coming."

I assume that this sentence means that the speaker thinks nobody saw it coming, but can't this pattern "I don't think anybody X" be took as "I think that not everybody X (but I think some X,)" in some context? Do you always take the example sentence I quoted as "I think nobody saw it coming?"

"I don't think anybody saw it coming."

I assume that this sentence means that the speaker thinks nobody saw it coming, but can't this pattern "I don't think anybody X" be took as "I think that not everybody X (but I think some X,)" in some context?

In other words, do you always take the example sentence I quoted from this article as "I think nobody saw it coming," not as "I think not everybody saw it coming, but I believe some did at least?"

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key_asdfg
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Complete negation or partial? "I don't think anybody X"

"I don't think anybody saw it coming."

I assume that this sentence means that the speaker thinks nobody saw it coming, but can't this pattern "I don't think anybody X" be took as "I think that not everybody X (but I think some X,)" in some context? Do you always take the example sentence I quoted as "I think nobody saw it coming?"