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Anonymous Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

"I think not(X)" vs. "I don't think X"

Hi,

I'm having a discussion with a friend about "I think not(X)" vs. "I don't think X". Is the former correct or not? For example, are these correct?

"I think I didn't mention this yet."
"I think I don't stand a chance."
"I think I can't do this."
"I think I won't go."

These sound correct to me, but maybe I'm wrong? Do you know of a rule which says that in a sentence with "think", you should only negate "think", and not the statement that follows (ie. "I don't think I mention this yet", "I don't think I stand a chance", "I don't think I can do this.", "I don't think I'll go.").
  

Top answer

They are correct, but not the normal formation. We tend to negate the main clause (this is called transferred negation) after verbs such as think and suppose .

— Mister Micawber

  • They are correct, but not the normal formation.
  • We tend to negate the main clause (this is called transferred negation) after verbs such as think and suppose .
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3 Answers
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They are correct, but not the normal formation. We tend to negate the main clause (this is called transferred negation) after verbs such as think and suppose.
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Thanks, I didn't know this was called "transferred negation", that's a good pointer in Google :) According to Section 6 in this doc: http://www.lancs.ac.uk/postgrad/xiaoz/papers/negation%20in%20english.doc , the "I don't think X" formulation has a slighly different use, as the stren
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That sounds like a good guideline; it is quite logical. This source seems to be a student research paper, however, and research papers tend to belabour their points. I wouldn't rely solely on this guideline for the interpretation of opinions.
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