General Possibility Or Negative Certainty

Question

Hello everyone,A. Are the sentence below negative (general) possibility or negative certainty?Cows can't be dangerous.B. Are the sentences below general posdibility?1. Lions can be dangerous.2. Winters can be cold.3. Winter can be cold.PS. Please make corrections to my sentences if there are any mistakesRegards,JA

GPY · Accepted Answer

Joseph AA. Are the sentence below negative (general) possibility or negative certainty?
Cows can't be dangerous.

It expresses an assertion that something cannot happen. The degree of "certainty" that we attribute to such a statement may depend on such factors as the speaker's knowledge or credibility. In fact, this particular statement is not true.

The sentence seems a bit unusual to me. Normally one would say "Cows aren't dangerous".

Joseph AB. Are the sentences below general possibility?
1. Lions can be dangerous.
2. Winters can be cold.
3. Winter can be cold.

Yes.

CalifJim · Answer

Joseph AA. ~~Are~~ Is the sentence below negative (general) possibility or negative certainty?
Cows can't be dangerous.

Hah! This one made me laugh. Technically it's ambiguous if we are generous in our reading of it.

Palmer calls these two readings 'dynamic' and 'epistemic', though I'm not recommending that you necessarily memorize those terms.

1. dynamic - negative possibility - subject the agent of action
Cows do not have the ability to be dangerous. Maybe they try to be dangerous, but it just doesn't work.
Compare: Johnny is only three years old. He can't lift a 200-pound weight.

2. epistemic - negative certainty - considerations of logic
Cows never present any kind of danger to anyone. You never have to worry about being near cows.
Compare: I know it's dark, but that shape is walking toward us. It can't be a tree!

Of the two, I think most people would say that it means 2, not 1.

CJ

General Possibility Or Negative Certainty

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions