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Azz Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
Not twice
Can one say
a. Not twice did I lose to him.
instead of
b. I did not lose to him twice.
?
My feeling is that (a) is correct, but emphatic. (b) could be followed by
I lost to him five times.
I don't think (a) can.
Many thanks.
a. Not twice did I lose to him.
instead of
b. I did not lose to him twice.
?
My feeling is that (a) is correct, but emphatic. (b) could be followed by
I lost to him five times.
I don't think (a) can.
Many thanks.
Top answer
(a) is possible, but it has a stylised or literary feel. It is not a sentence that would be used in everyday English.
- (a) is possible, but it has a stylised or literary feel.
- It is not a sentence that would be used in everyday English.
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3 Answers
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(a) is possible, but it has a stylised or literary feel. It is not a sentence that would be used in everyday English.
00
Thank you so much GPY.
Would you say this one works
c. Not twice did I lose to him. I lost to him five times.
My feeling is that it doesn't. I would say the first sentence is more or less equivalent to I did not even lose to him twice.
There is emphasis in the negation.
Many thanks,
Would you say this one works
c. Not twice did I lose to him. I lost to him five times.
My feeling is that it doesn't. I would say the first sentence is more or less equivalent to I did not even lose to him twice.
There is emphasis in the negation.
Many thanks,
00
It seems debatable. "Not once did I lose to him. I lost to him five times" is not right (except if said for deliberate misleading effect). However, "Not twice ..." is not idiomatic like "Not once ..."; it is an unusual stylised form whose usage is not so clearly prescribed.
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