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Lcwang Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
All that glitters is not gold.
Being a Chinese, I always have problem in interpreting following sentences:
1. All that glitters is not gold.
2. All children are not afraid of the dark.
3. Everybody in politics is not a good person.
4. Every European is not Christian.
5. Both of his grandparents are not dead.
We were taught in school that all the above sentences are so-called partial negation. That is: only a part of the subject fit the description set forth by the predicate. In other words, "All/Both/Every...not" = "Not all/both/every...".
Does the above theory sound OK to native speakers? Does sentence No. 4, really mean that ‘Some Europeans are and some are not Christian’? And No. 5 really means only one of his grandparents is alive? I am confused.
1. All that glitters is not gold.
2. All children are not afraid of the dark.
3. Everybody in politics is not a good person.
4. Every European is not Christian.
5. Both of his grandparents are not dead.
We were taught in school that all the above sentences are so-called partial negation. That is: only a part of the subject fit the description set forth by the predicate. In other words, "All/Both/Every...not" = "Not all/both/every...".
Does the above theory sound OK to native speakers? Does sentence No. 4, really mean that ‘Some Europeans are and some are not Christian’? And No. 5 really means only one of his grandparents is alive? I am confused.
Top answer
The sentences you quote are all acceptable and used, but I agree with you that it is more normal, at least in modern English, to begin with "not". For example, sentence 2 could suggest that no child is afraid of the dark. By putting the "not" at the beginning we make it clearer that it refers to "all", so that not all children are afraid of the dark.
- The sentences you quote are all acceptable and used, but I agree with you that it is more normal, at least in modern English, to begin with "not".
- For example, sentence 2 could suggest that no child is afraid of the dark.
- By putting the "not" at the beginning we make it clearer that it refers to "all", so that not all children are afraid of the dark.
- Again, I find it preferable to say, "Not every European is a Christian", but the meaning of sentence no.
- 4 is the same.
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3 Answers
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The sentences you quote are all acceptable and used, but I agree with you that it is more normal, at least in modern English, to begin with "not". For example, sentence 2 could suggest that no child is afraid of the dark. By putting the "not" at the beginning we make it clearer that it refers to "all", so that not all children are afraid of the dark.
Again, I find it preferable
Again, I find it preferable
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Thank you for your reply. But how about the No. 5 sentence: 'Both of his grandparents are not dead.' , could it be understood as 'None of his parents is dead' and 'One of his parents is dead.' as well?
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Hello Ethan,
From a purely logical point of view, it could mean that one is alive or both are alive.
However, from a conversational point of view, if both are alive, you wouldn't say it that way -- you'd say "Both of his grandparent are alive" or "Neither of his grandparents is dead." So you could probably assume that one is alive and one is not.
From a purely logical point of view, it could mean that one is alive or both are alive.
However, from a conversational point of view, if both are alive, you wouldn't say it that way -- you'd say "Both of his grandparent are alive" or "Neither of his grandparents is dead." So you could probably assume that one is alive and one is not.
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