Single or multiple actions?

Question

Hi, I need help on this.I saw you at lectures and at the exam. - multiple actions of 'saw'I did not see you at lectures and at the exam. - I guess this one is also multiple. Am I correct?Thank you.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

AnonymousI saw you at lectures and at the exam. - multiple actions of 'saw'

I'm not sure what you mean by "actions" here. Seeing is a perception, not an action. The sentence mentions two occasions involving perception.

AnonymousI did not see you at lectures and at the exam. - I guess this one is also multiple. Am I correct?

This sentence expresses the denial of having perceived on two occasions where that perception might have been expected. (Usually with negation, the connector is or or nor: I did not see you at lectures (n)or at the exam.)

Depending on your purpose in talking in terms of "multiple actions", you might say that each sentence is just as expressive of "multiple actions" as the other, though I don't know "where you're going" with this observation.

CJ

Mister Micawber · Answer

I did not see you at lectures or at the exam.

Am I correct?-- In both cases, seeing or failing to see happened more than once.

Anonymous · Answer

Why should it be 'or'? It is not 'failing to see' at one particular point in time like "I did not see you at your desk or with Henry, what I saw was you chilling out in the pantry" or "At that time I didn't see you or Henry".

I did not see you at lectures.

I did not see at the exam (another point in time after many lectures).

Shouldn't it be 'and'?

I didn't see you (at time 1) and (at time 2).

Just as:

I saw you (at time 1) and (at time 2)?

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousShouldn't it be 'and'?
I didn't see you (at time 1) and (at time 2).
Just as:
I saw you (at time 1) and (at time 2)?

No. It's a matter of simple (?) logic.

See De Morgan's Laws. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Morgan%27s_laws

NOT (P AND Q) = (NOT P) OR (NOT Q)

NOT (P OR Q) = (NOT P) AND (NOT Q)

The rules can be expressed in English as:

"The negation of a conjunction is the disjunction of the negations." and
"The negation of a disjunction is the conjunction of the negations."

So the negation of [(I saw you at time 1) and (I saw you at time 2)]

is

[(I didn't see you at time 1) or (I didn't see you at time 2)] = I didn't see you either at time 1 or at time 2.

_________________________

But if mathematical logic doesn't appeal to you, then just remember that and goes with affirmations and orgoes with negations when you are connecting items after the verb.

I lilked the salad and the dessert.

I didn't like the salad or the dessert.

Jake walked into the living room and into the kitchen.

Jake did not walk into the living room or into the kitchen.

Everyone heard the crash and the scream.

No one heard the crash or the scream.

William drives to his grandmother's on Wednesdays and Fridays.

William doesn't drive to his grandmother's on Wednesdays or Fridays.

Wash your hair before and after using this product.

Do not wash you hair before or after using this product.

This compound contains sodium and iodine.

This compound doesn't contain sodium or iodine.

CJ

BillJ · Answer

AnonymousI saw you at lectures and at the exam. - multiple actions of 'saw'
I did not see you at lectures and at the exam. - I guess this one is also multiple. Am I correct?

No, they are not actions. "See" is a verb of perception, so there's no action involved. This is a kind of coordinated clause structure involving two preposition phrases acting as adjuncts (or adverbials) modifying "see":

"I saw you at lectures and at the exam".

This could be expanded into a logically equivalent compound sentence comprising two coordinated main clauses:

"I saw you at lectures and I saw you at the exam".

Same applies to your negative example.

BillJ

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