Timeline for "How dare you" vs "How do you dare"
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
7 events
when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jun 3, 2012 at 21:29 | comment | added | John Lawler | Sure, that's true of any NPI; they're either really recent and jazzy or ancient and quirky. Just learn to recognize the negative contexts and you'll have some idea what weird things can happen. Polarity phenomena are at the root of the problems that produce a vast number of the questions here. | |
Jun 3, 2012 at 21:20 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | Given OP introduced terminology such as semi-modal right at the start, it's not inappropriate to provide quite a detailed technical answer. But I must say in this case I'm more attracted to @Amir's answer because I think "How dare you!" is a "fossilized expression" - we don't normally create new utterances using this archaic inversion, so the basic answer for OP is simply "Note and reproduce the form in established 'set phrases', but don't extend the principle to constructions you've not heard before" | |
Jun 3, 2012 at 20:57 | comment | added | John Lawler | Yeah, sorry. I had started out with You need to and switched it to He needs to so as to emphasize the -s on needs. But I missed that one and now it's too late to correct. | |
Jun 3, 2012 at 20:09 | comment | added | MT_Head | I see this - "Is it only up to the speaker as to which one to use? Or does it depend on the circumstances?" - as the heart of the OP's question; the answer, it seems to me, is "yes, it depends on circumstances, and here they are." You've definitely answered some questions about the word dare, but I'm not sure any of them was what he was asking. He may have muddied the waters a bit by tossing in "semi-modal". | |
Jun 3, 2012 at 19:29 | comment | added | John Lawler | Ask grammatical question, but no answer in grammar-speak (oooh +1). The OP asked how to tell when to use dare as a modal, and acknowledged knowing they were "semi-modals"; I provided a list of situations where semi-modality occurs, with examples. Just the facts, ma'am. I didn't treat the fact that there are fixed phrases and constructions involved, and that "How do you dare?" sounds like something weird a madman might mutter when shaking hands with a stranger. As for the upvotes, I don't understand either; luckily, I don't have to. | |
Jun 3, 2012 at 19:04 | comment | added | MT_Head | I don't understand the upvotes on this answer. Lots of grammar-speak (oooh! +1 for "modalactive"!) but I fail to see how it, in any way, answers the OP's question. Maybe I'm missing something. | |
Jun 3, 2012 at 17:20 | history | answered | John Lawler | CC BY-SA 3.0 |