He does not read this novel

Question

Please tell me whether they are different.1. He does not read this novel.2. He reads not this novel.Thanks.

Marius Hancu · Accepted Answer

2 is poor English. 1 is OK.
This must be in any grammar book, or I think that way.

Minhuoc · Answer

No, Marius.

I don't think it is poor. I think it is the way to emphasise the sentence : "He does not read this novel."

Can you give me another way to emphasise the sentence above?

Clive · Answer

Hi guys,

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. (Albert Einstein)

I know not why ***’s wondrous grace To me He hath made known (Hymn)

He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not (Traditional rhyme)

The structure 'main verb + not' seems archaic and/or very literary. I recommend that you forget about it unless you want to write fancy poems or literature in English, and even then I would only do it very rarely. It only sounds OK with certain verbs, and it sounds odd and wrong for mundane things.

If you want to add emphasis to your sentence, why don't you just say something like He definitely does not read this novel?

[Simple Present may not be the best choice of tense in your sentence, Continuous would probably be more natural]

Best wishes, Clive

He does not read this novel

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