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Biorophant Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Tricky Partial Negation
Hello all. Nice to meet you.
I tried searching first, but it seems that nobody asked the same question before.
So I post a new one here. I ask for your understanding if it was just my lack of searching skill.
While I was studying for GRE today, I bumped into this sentence: The rules were not uniform in all respects from one West African tribe to another.
This one sounds like another example of partial negation. Still, I am a bit confused since all the partial negation expressions I have seen so far looked slightly different from it.
For example, they were like 'Not everyone can be a poet.' or 'Everyone cannot be a poet.', both meaning only some people can become a poet. I can't put my finger on it, but my question sentence doesn't seem to have the same structure. Therefore I am unsure how to translate the author's intention.
As far as I am concerned, it could be either
1. The rules were uniform in many respects with some exceptions.
2. Not a single respect of the rules were consistent with one another.
Would you tell me which one is correct?
Thank you in advance.
I tried searching first, but it seems that nobody asked the same question before.
So I post a new one here. I ask for your understanding if it was just my lack of searching skill.
While I was studying for GRE today, I bumped into this sentence: The rules were not uniform in all respects from one West African tribe to another.
This one sounds like another example of partial negation. Still, I am a bit confused since all the partial negation expressions I have seen so far looked slightly different from it.
For example, they were like 'Not everyone can be a poet.' or 'Everyone cannot be a poet.', both meaning only some people can become a poet. I can't put my finger on it, but my question sentence doesn't seem to have the same structure. Therefore I am unsure how to translate the author's intention.
As far as I am concerned, it could be either
1. The rules were uniform in many respects with some exceptions.
2. Not a single respect of the rules were consistent with one another.
Would you tell me which one is correct?
Thank you in advance.
Top answer
Hi, #1. For meaning #2, a native speaker would word it very differently. eg The rules were completely different .
- Hi, #1.
- For meaning #2, a native speaker would word it very differently.
- eg The rules were completely different .
- .
- Clive
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3 Answers
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Hi,
#1.
For meaning #2, a native speaker would word it very differently.
eg The rules were completely different . . .
Clive
#1.
For meaning #2, a native speaker would word it very differently.
eg The rules were completely different . . .
Clive
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It's not a partial negation. The "not" would have to be applying to "all" for that, but it applies to "uniform (in all respects)". If the rules were uniform in all respects from one to another, all tribes would have the exact same rules. That is not the case. The implication is that the rules were all the same, with some exceptions.
"In all respects" is somewhat redundant with "uniform",
"In all respects" is somewhat redundant with "uniform",
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Thank you Clive. Thank you enoon.
With your explanation now I can understand this matter clearly.
With your explanation now I can understand this matter clearly.
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