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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Can someone help me with negation?
Hello, can someone help me with this exercise please? It's a part of my homework. Thanks for your help!
Find signals of negation and discuss their interpretation. Explain the ungrammaticality in (f) and (h).
d) Peter gave nothing to anyone.
e) Peter does not know anything / ?? nothing.
f) *Peter gave next to nothing to anyone.
g) No students can help you.
h) *No students cannot help you.
Find signals of negation and discuss their interpretation. Explain the ungrammaticality in (f) and (h).
d) Peter gave nothing to anyone.
e) Peter does not know anything / ?? nothing.
f) *Peter gave next to nothing to anyone.
g) No students can help you.
h) *No students cannot help you.
Top answer
Give it a try and we'll comment on your work. CJ
- Give it a try and we'll comment on your work.
- CJ
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2 Answers
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Ok I know what is grammatical and what is not. But I can't explain it. I'm not sure how can I explain their interpretation.
Peter gave nothing to anyone. – “nothing” and “anyone” has negative polarity. And "anyone" has to be after "nothing". But sentence has positive pattern becouse we can make a question tag “doesn't he"?
Peter does not know anything / ?? nothing. - T
Peter gave nothing to anyone. – “nothing” and “anyone” has negative polarity. And "anyone" has to be after "nothing". But sentence has positive pattern becouse we can make a question tag “doesn't he"?
Peter does not know anything / ?? nothing. - T
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