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Vsting Posted 21 years ago
Vocabulary
Partial Negation
I understand in English when we say "Both windows are not open.", we mean: "Not both of the windows are open. Probably one is open, the other is closed. " Am I right?
If so, how about: "Everybody doesn't like the book." Does that also mean: "Not everybody likes the book. Some do and some don't."?
Is there a grammatical term called partial negation existing in English grammar?
If so, how about: "Everybody doesn't like the book." Does that also mean: "Not everybody likes the book. Some do and some don't."?
Is there a grammatical term called partial negation existing in English grammar?
Top answer
Hi there, No I'm afraid that when we say 'both windows are not open' we mean that both windows are closed. Likewise, if we say everybody doesn't like the book, we mean that nobody likes the book. Your two examples do not sound quite natural to a native speaker - we would express them in the ways I have suggested.
- Hi there, No I'm afraid that when we say 'both windows are not open' we mean that both windows are closed.
- Likewise, if we say everybody doesn't like the book, we mean that nobody likes the book.
- Your two examples do not sound quite natural to a native speaker - we would express them in the ways I have suggested.
- 'Not both of the windows are open' does mean what you say.
- The word order definitely has an effect on meaning here.
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4 Answers
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Hi there,
No I'm afraid that when we say 'both windows are not open' we mean that both windows are closed. Likewise, if we say everybody doesn't like the book, we mean that nobody likes the book. Your two examples do not sound quite natural to a native speaker - we would express them in the ways I have suggested.
'Not both of the windows are open' does mean what you say. The wo
No I'm afraid that when we say 'both windows are not open' we mean that both windows are closed. Likewise, if we say everybody doesn't like the book, we mean that nobody likes the book. Your two examples do not sound quite natural to a native speaker - we would express them in the ways I have suggested.
'Not both of the windows are open' does mean what you say. The wo
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'Not both of the windows are open'-- is definitely not natural...except, perhaps, in a most unlikely context, which I'm sure someone could conjure up for the fun of it.
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The sentence above "not both of the windows are opent" is perfectly correct. In normal sequence of a sentence, the negative "not" always goes after the helping or "Be" verb. That gives total negative meaning to the sentence. have you ever seen the negative "not" in front of the subject in a normal sequenced sentence? No, you haven't, and this is why when the "not" goes in front of the subject in
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A combination of a universal quantifier (all, both, every, ...) in the subject together with a negative verb is almost always ambiguous and should be avoided.
Avoid: Both windows are not open.
Say: Neither window is open.
Or: Only one window is open.
Avoid: Everybody doesn't like the book.
Say: Nobody likes the book.
Or. Not everybody likes
Avoid: Both windows are not open.
Say: Neither window is open.
Or: Only one window is open.
Avoid: Everybody doesn't like the book.
Say: Nobody likes the book.
Or. Not everybody likes
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