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Guest Posted 21 years ago
Grammar
All is not told
Can the sentence be interpreted as "nothing is told" or "not all is told" (some is told, some isn't told)? Could you explain to me the sentence and tell me more about sentences containing "not"? Thank you.
Top answer
It is precisely because of the ambiguity that can result from such sentences that I personally avoid them. I would recommend against any sentence with "all" and "every" or a similar expression in the subject together with a negated verb. Rephrase for greater clarity, as shown in the example below.
- It is precisely because of the ambiguity that can result from such sentences that I personally avoid them.
- I would recommend against any sentence with "all" and "every" or a similar expression in the subject together with a negated verb.
- Rephrase for greater clarity, as shown in the example below.
- Everybody was not ready to begin.
- Not everybody was ready to begin.
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2 Answers
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It is precisely because of the ambiguity that can result from such sentences that I personally avoid them. I would recommend against any sentence with "all" and "every" or a similar expression in the subject together with a negated verb. Rephrase for greater clarity, as shown in the example below.
?Everybody was not ready to begin.
Not everybody was ready to begin. (There w
?Everybody was not ready to begin.
Not everybody was ready to begin. (There w
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Hello Guest
You give us a nice question. I'm a mere English learner from Japan, but let me write something I have learned about English 'not'. (If I make mistakes, I'm sure our teachers come to correct them)
Syntactically 'not' can be considered as a word 'negating' the following word/phrase (constituent). But what the negation means depends on the sentence structure.
(1
You give us a nice question. I'm a mere English learner from Japan, but let me write something I have learned about English 'not'. (If I make mistakes, I'm sure our teachers come to correct them)
Syntactically 'not' can be considered as a word 'negating' the following word/phrase (constituent). But what the negation means depends on the sentence structure.
(1
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