Questions tagged [negation]
Negation is the process that turns an affirmative statement (e.g. "I am American") into its opposite denial (e.g. "I am not American").
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How to answer a negative question without ambiguity?
I faced a problem to answer a negative question, for example, when someone asks you:
Don't you have any money?
It's a yes/no question but how should one answer the question without ambiguity?
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Order of "not" with infinitive
This is one thing that keeps bugging me, and maybe there's a direct answer.
Grammatically, which one is more correct of these two? Does it make a difference?
I tried not to do that.
I tried to not ...
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The grammaticality of "that don't impress me much"
I'd like to know how the sentence "That don't impress me much" sounds to a native English speaker.
The phrase is the title of a song by Shania Twain, and to my eyes it contains a clear error. It is ...
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What's the negation of "I used to be"? Surely not "I didn't used to be"?
What is the negative form of "I used to be"? I often hear "I didn't used to be" but that sounds awfully wrong in my ears.
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Why use "need not" instead of "do not need to"?
The header of psyco.sourceforge.net states:
High-level languages need not be slower than low-level ones.
Why use need not instead of do not need? What does it mean? Also, why no to before be?
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English questions and negation with *do* in syntax
A former lecturer of mine once explained why, from a syntactic point of view, the English rule that negation and questions are formed with the auxiliary do follows from other syntactic facts about ...
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Should I use 'or' or 'nor' after a negative statement?
This document does not cover the SDK interfaces nor any other reference material.
I think the above is correct, but my grammatical checker in Microsoft Word underlines nor and suggests or. Why?
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Difference between "I haven't" and "I've not" etc
If I have three consecutive words where each adjacent pair can be contracted, e.g. "I would have" or "You are not", is there a difference between the two possible contractions, e.g. "I would've" or "...
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"Whether or not" vs. "whether"
This will depend on whether he's suitable for the job.
This will depend on whether he's suitable for the job or not.
This will depend on whether or not he's suitable for the job.
It is ...
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The construction of "Known but to God"
The Tomb of the Unknown Solider has the engraving "KNOWN BUT TO GOD", as presumably no man knows his name, but shouldn't it read "unknown, but to God", as the default for everyone is "unknown", with ...
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Why do not we ask negative questions without a contraction on the not after the verb?
I have found multiple questions touching on this but not a single one that has a comprehensive answer. The information is all there but in little bits.
"Do you not" vs. "Don't you&...
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"There are no comments" vs. "There is no comment"
Which is correct?
There are no comments.
There is no comment.
Which would you use for a web application, i.e. what to display when a blog post or an article has no comment attached?
Actually, ...
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"It isn't" vs. "it's not"
Is one stronger than the other? More correct? Just curious, one of the many abstract things to pop into my head on the drive home today...
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Is the use of a hyphen between "non" and an adjective strictly necessary?
Do I need to put a "-" between "non" and an adjective? As an example in physics we say "a non isolated photon", "non tight photon"... The context is very formal (paper publications and similar). Is ...
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Do the following negations mean the same thing?
I don't think you understood me. / I think you misunderstood me.
Do these senteces mean the same thing? If not, what's the difference?
Edit: I just realized that I asked something different from ...
user38611
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Why is “cannot” spelled as one word?
Why is “cannot” spelled as one word whereas other similar constructions such as “do not,” “will not,” “shall not,” “may not” and “must not” are spelled as two words (unless they are contracted as “don’...
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What is the correct way to use "neither" and "nor" in a sentence together?
Given these facts:
The tool cannot be found in the kitchen.
The tool cannot be found in the bathroom.
Which is the correct sentence to represent the situation above?
I can find the tool ...
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Can a positive statement be combined with a positive question tag like "did you" or is "didn't you" necessary?
Typically, when we ask for confirmation/denial of a statement, we say something like the following:
We turn left here, don't we?
You have a cat, don't you?
We've met before, haven't we?
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When should we use proximity rule in "either/or", and "neither/nor"?
According to this link, if at least one of the nouns involved is plural then it should take the plural form of the verb. Otherwise, it should take the singular form of the verb. But in the last part ...
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Is "don't" a particle of its own?
I noticed an oddity in the sentence Why don't you just do it?: Although I always thought of don't simply as of a short form of do not it seems to me as if this is not the case in this sentence. ...
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Comparing negatives: "she seems not to know" vs. "she doesn't seem to know"
What is the difference in style and meaning between the following two:
She seems not to know.
She doesn't seem to know.
Is there a name to this type of construction?
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Can you say "are not we all?" instead of "aren't we all?"
Because "aren't" translates to "are not" I pose the question, can you use both interchangeably (in the context of "aren't we all?")? "Are not" sounds very grammatically incorrect in this situation.
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How to form this tag question – as a positive tag question, or a negative one?
We always use a positive tag question after a negative sentence:
You shouldn't take this medicine, should you?
We use a negative tag question after a positive sentence:
She must leave early, mustn'...
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"There is no point in" or "There is not a point in"
I was thinking about these negations. Do these mean the same thing?
There is no point in ...
There is not a point in ...
or:
I have no clue
I do not have any clue
etc.
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Why does "Why doesn't it work?" become "Why does it not work?"
When you uncontract doesn't in "Why doesn't it work?" the not moves to "Why does it not work?"
This confuses me even more when I use a longer phrase instead of the pronoun it like below:
Why doesn'...
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How does negation affect the use and understanding of "or" and "and"
I'm trying to make more sense of how negation effects how a sentence is parsed and understood if and's and or's are used within them.
Pop quiz: You are trapped on a bus with a bomb going 50 MPH. You ...
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Using "non-" to prefix a two-word phrase
Does "non-" prefixed to a two word phrase permit another hyphen before the second word?
If I want to refer to an entity which is defined as the negation of another entity by attaching "non-" it seems ...
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How productive is the verb prefix "un-"?
Is it possible to use un- with new words such as sit, sleep, sad? I'm currently seeing many words (in programming) which use un- in the meaning of undoing something.
For example, is it possible to ...
user16142
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"Dare" with and without "to"
To my surprise, there's a missing question about this particularly interesting verb, dare. All I know about it is the fact it can be in two forms, as an auxiliary (without to: "I dare not mention ...
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Should "anymore" be used only in a negative statement or question?
I don't know why this is so, but I've always believed that the word anymore should only be used in a question or negative statement.
Do you go there anymore?
Don't do that anymore.
But I often ...
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Are "not uncommon" and similar phrases double negatives? Should their use be avoided?
When I think of double negatives I think of phrases that grate on the ears, like:
I'm not going to do no homework.
I'm never going to not go visit Graceland.
There are some phrases that appear to ...
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Ambiguity in Negation: "John did not come because of the rain"
John did not come because of the rain.
This sentence seems to allow the following two completely different interpretations.
John did not come. And the reason was the rain.
John came. But the reason ...
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About question tags
He did nothing*.
Which is the correct question tag for the sentence above?
didn't he?
did he?
What is the effect of using nothing for negation?
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Not so much as [something] as [something else]
Consider the sentence:
"She sees him not so much as her uncle as her friend."
Is this sentence correct? I feel something is missing, or perhaps I am disturbed by the extra 'as'. Compare with:
"...
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"There is no rule" vs. "there isn't rule"
What are the differences between the two sentences below:
There is no rule.
There isn't rule.
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"It really doesn't matter" v "It doesn't really matter"
I can't distinguish the difference in meaning between these two sentences.
It really doesn't matter.
It doesn't really matter.
It seems that there is a nuanced difference, but I cannot see what ...
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When to use "cannot" versus "can't"?
When is it best to write "can't" versus writing "cannot"? Are they interchangeable in every situation?
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"Do you not" vs. "Don't you"
I live in the UK and I mostly hear people saying Don't you..., but some people say: Do you not...? What is the difference and which one is more correct?
You can put any example really. Something like:...
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"Why can't I see?" or "Why I can't see?"?
Which of the following is correct?
Why can't I see?
Why I can't see?
I am a bit confused, since both have inversion, negation and a "why" in the beginning.
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What is the origin of auxiliary verbs?
When and why did we start using auxiliary verbs, particularly "do", to ask questions and make negatives?
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"All is not lost" vs "Not all is lost"
I guess I've been in mathematics for far too long, and I tend to use the phrase "Not all is lost" as the negative of "All is lost".
To me the phrase "All is not lost" suggests that nothing is lost. ...
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"They're not" vs. "they aren't" [duplicate]
How dissimilar are "they're not" and "they aren't"?
Is it dependent on context or are these exactly the same?
They are supposed to be going, but they are not.
They are not going.
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"Cannot help but think" vs. "cannot but think" vs. "cannot help thinking"
Which of the following are grammatical?
I cannot help but think.
I cannot but think.
I cannot help thinking.
I was taught (1) is not correct. Is it true? Or are they all correct? ...
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"I don't think you X" versus "I think you don't X"
Consider the following two sentences:
I don't think you love your father.
I think you don't love your father.
Is the second sentence correct? I was taught that it is wrong.
user8970
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What is the difference between "no" and "not"? [closed]
What is the difference between "no" and "not"?
We know that "no" and "not" have the same meaning.
I'm studying English. I hope to get help.
Sorry for my language.
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What is this "Nor"?
And I saw Tityos, son of glorious Gaea, lying on the ground. Over nine roods he stretched, and two vultures sat, one on either side, and tore his liver, plunging their beaks into his bowels, nor could ...
user41481
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Response to "Would you not do it?"
If posed with the subject question, given that I will not do the action in question, then what is the correct answer
No, I will not do it.
or
Yes, I will not do it.
#1 sounds better to me, ...
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"I give nothing to no-one" or "I do not give anything to anyone"
I have a bit of an issue with negations. Are the following correct?
I do not give anything to anyone //I guess this is correct
I give nothing to no-one //can I say that?
Generally, is it the same ...
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What is the meaning of "ought not"?
Consider this example:
A few strong branches over water reach for what they ought not reach.
Which of the meanings comes closest to “ought not” in this sentence?
Is it “doesn't have to”, “should ...
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Not only X but also Y are (is?)
At first glance, sentence 1 below seems more correct because there are two subjects. However, something seems more natural about sentence 2. Maybe there is something abbreviated, elliptical, or ...
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