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Usenet Posted 22 years ago
Usage
"Need" as a modal verb
I've come across this sentence while reading "The Shadow-Line":
QUOTE
He waited for a moment, then cautiously, as if not to give offence: "I don't think we need lose much of that stuff, sir," he said, "I can sweep it up, every bit of it almost, and then we could sift the glass out. I will go about it at once. It will not make the breakfast late, not ten minutes."
UNQUOTE
I understand you can use "need" as a modal verb only in non-assertive structures ("Need I point out...?", "You needn't come", "Students need learn only..."); I wonder if the negative structure is considered such, though transferred to the verb "to think".
Bye, FB
Se dico "siedi!" manca l'oggetto.
Siedo chi? Lei o me?
(da it.cultura.linguistica.italiano)
QUOTE
He waited for a moment, then cautiously, as if not to give offence: "I don't think we need lose much of that stuff, sir," he said, "I can sweep it up, every bit of it almost, and then we could sift the glass out. I will go about it at once. It will not make the breakfast late, not ten minutes."
UNQUOTE
I understand you can use "need" as a modal verb only in non-assertive structures ("Need I point out...?", "You needn't come", "Students need learn only..."); I wonder if the negative structure is considered such, though transferred to the verb "to think".
Bye, FB
Se dico "siedi!" manca l'oggetto.
Siedo chi? Lei o me?
(da it.cultura.linguistica.italiano)
Top answer
[nq:1]I've come across this sentence while reading "The Shadow-Line": QUOTE He waited for a moment, then cautiously, as if not ... [/nq] Yes, negation of a clause can take place in another clause. Compare: He's coming, and I think she's coming too.
- [nq:1]I've come across this sentence while reading "The Shadow-Line": QUOTE He waited for a moment, then cautiously, as if not ...
- [/nq] Yes, negation of a clause can take place in another clause.
- Compare: He's coming, and I think she's coming too.
- He's not coming, and I don't think she's coming either.
- Weird are the ways of negation in English.
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2 Answers
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[nq:1]I've come across this sentence while reading "The Shadow-Line": QUOTE He waited for a moment, then cautiously, as if not ... "Students need learn only..."); I wonder if the negative structure is considered such, though transferred to the verb "to think".[/nq]
Yes, negation of a clause can take place in another clause. Compare:
He's coming, and I think she's coming too.
He's
Yes, negation of a clause can take place in another clause. Compare:
He's coming, and I think she's coming too.
He's
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[nq:1]Yes, negation of a clause can take place in another clause. Compare: He's coming, and I think she's coming too. ... Edward S. Klima, in The Structure of Language (Jerry A. Fodor and Jerrold J. Katz, Eds.), Prentice-Hall (1964).[/nq]
Thank you.
Bye, FB
Io ho deciso di rifiutarmi di vederlo: Ettore con la faccia di Eric Banana mi fa venire i conati.
(commento sul film "Tro
Thank you.
Bye, FB
Io ho deciso di rifiutarmi di vederlo: Ettore con la faccia di Eric Banana mi fa venire i conati.
(commento sul film "Tro
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