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Handtalk Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

partial negation or ambiguous?

Hi,

"You shouldn't believe everything Tom said last night."

Is this sentence partial negation, or could mean "You shouldn't believe anything Tom said last night."?
  

Top answer

"? Every time Tom opened his mouth he lied. " Tom said some things that were true, and lied about other things.

— AlpheccaStars

  • "?
  • Every time Tom opened his mouth he lied.
  • " Tom said some things that were true, and lied about other things.
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3 Answers
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handtalk"You shouldn't believe anything Tom said last night."?
Every time Tom opened his mouth he lied.
handtalk"You shouldn't believe everything Tom said last night."
Tom said some things that were true, and lied about other things.
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AlpheccaStars,
So, " You shouldn't believe everything Tom said last night." is ALWAYS partial negation.

Thanks.
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handtalkSo, " You shouldn't believe everything Tom said last night." is ALWAYS partial negation.
In that sentence, yes.
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