Ambiguity?

Question

1, How long can you not play video games?

I can not play video games for seven days. This is the maximum time I can endure.

2, How long can't you play video games?

I can't play video games for seven days. My mom punished me.

3, How long can you not play video games?

I can't play video games for seven days. My mom punished me.

''How long can you not play video games?''

Does this question mean how long you can endure not playing video games? or it means how long you can't play video games?

Philip · Accepted Answer

1. How long can you go without playing video games? -- I can go seven days.
2. The situation is entirely different, of course, from #1, but what you have is correct.
3. Also correct.

Grammarfreak · Answer

This is my approcah toward English. Very often, posters would ask: Are these correct? Or can we say this?
The answers are often "yes" based on simple grammar approach. If you are interested in knowing what the record time time is that someone had kept playing video games non-stop, you can say " how long can you play video games (without stopping) ?" When you ask a negative question by adding "not" using the same construction, sometimes it causes problems, as exhibited here. That being said, being correct does not necessarily equate to practical and smooth English. The problem with framing your question with " how long can you not ....." is that it is not semantically clear, nor it is well connected with the intended context. There are always different ways to express the same idea, as suggest by Philip. I think a better way to say this is: How long can you refrain from playing video games, or how long can you keep away from (playing) video games.

Ambiguity?

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