kayaker  +  48554 Fri, 01 Oct 04 08:47 PM What's the difference between negating the verb or the subject? For example: I haven't a pencil. I have no pencil. I've seen that in english you have a lot of structures in which you can sort of negate two ways. (of course not both, because of the grammatically incorrrect although common use of the double negative). My bet is that it's stronger to negate the subject, like, "I have no pencil" is stronger than "I haven't a pencil" o maybe "I haven't any pencil". So, basically what are the differences between these two ways of negation? kayaker Joined on Fri, Oct 1 2004 Argentina New Member 16 Verbs, Difference Between, Negatives

	Destination_AGP  +  48560 Fri, 01 Oct 04 10:18 PM Hello. Both ways of negation are possible. Basically, the difference -as you said- is emphasis. 1) I haven't (got) any money 2) I have no money If you want to stress the idea that you can't pay for something, you would use option (2), verb negation. If you say option (1), you convey the idea of not having money as well, but maybe it's not so important or decisive. Anyway, not everyone has the same point of view. Probably, most speakers may use any of them to mean the same thing. As many things about language, it is something quite subjective and it depends on the speaker's decision. I hope this was helpful to you! -Destination AGP- Destination_AGP Joined on Thu, Sep 23 2004 Málaga (Spain) New Member 10 Verbs

	Mister Micawber  +  48575 Sat, 02 Oct 04 01:12 AM Formality is also involved, with 'I have no money' being rather more formal/written than 'I haven't any money'. For more formality, re-phrase to 'I am temporarily financially embarrassed'. Mister Micawber Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004 Yokohama Veteran Member 30,788 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

	CalifJim  +  48577 Sat, 02 Oct 04 01:18 AM Technical point: "I" is the subject of those sentences, and you are not negating the subject at all. The difference is between negating the verb and negating the direct object. That aside, there is no difference in the meaning whether you negate the verb or the object. However, the preference of native speakers seems to be to negate the verb with common, everyday objects - concrete nouns - and to negate the object when it is an abstract noun. This is by no means a rule, and even as a tendency, it is not necessarily universal among all speakers. I don't have any money / any books / any clothes to wear to the concert. I have no patience / no time for this / no trouble understanding you. In spite of that, you can still say I have no money / etc. or I don't have any patience / etc. "any" is just a quarter step lower in 'register' than "no", if you will. ---- oh, hello, Mr. M! -- again, didn't notice you were on-line just now. CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,389 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Verbs, Nouns, Direct Objects, Abstract Nouns

	Mephorium  +  48608 Sat, 02 Oct 04 07:24 AM "I haven't (got) any money. I'd watch out for such constructions. I saw this in a Radio Shack flyer a few weeks ago: "You've got questions. We've got answers." The negative and affirmative adverbs are often placed within verb phrases: I will not give you a dollar. Now remove the negative adverb: I will give you a dollar. The sentence still makes perfect sense. Remove got from the above sentence: I have any money. It does (not) sound right, does it? As for the "have got" construction itself, I am unsure why, technically, it is incorrect, so I will stop myself there. Jim and/or Mister as always your insight would be a blessing. Mephorium Joined on Sun, Sep 26 2004 New Member 33 Verbs, Constructions, Adverbs, Negatives

	Mister Micawber  +  48645 Sat, 02 Oct 04 03:58 PM Without researching (again!-- I am easily confused by fiats), it seems to me that the 'I haven't any money' is a Briticism while the 'I haven't got any money' is an Americanism-- or, I think I have it reversed-- but in any case, neither is less acceptable than the other. With the 'any', we're into the 'any' for negative/interrogative vs. 'some' for declarative semi-rule; so that the inverse of 'I haven't (got) any money' is 'I have (got) some money'. What I don't see is the danger you warn us of in the Radio Shack flyer, Mephorium-- could you elucidate? Mister Micawber Dates, Negatives

	Mephorium  +  48715 Sun, 03 Oct 04 06:19 AM Yes, without the contraction it would be "You have got questions. We have got answers." Have is used to form the present perfect indicative forms of verbs. That is, to pair the past participle of the verb with either have or has. Got is the past indicative form of the verb get and, therefore, cannot be paired with have. Gotten is the past participle of the verb got, and can be paired with have: "You have gotten questions. We have gotten answers." This sentence sounds ungrammatical (or unattractive) to me, and leads me to believe that "have" should not be part of a verb phrase, but function as a transitive verb that takes "questions" as a direct object. Mephorium Verbs, Present Perfect, Contractions, Direct Objects

	CalifJim  +  48723 Sun, 03 Oct 04 07:21 AM For the ordinary, simple "to have": British: have some ..., haven't any ... American: have some ..., don't have any ... For the ordinary, simple "to get". British principle parts: "get, got, got American principle parts: "get got, gotten For the idiom "have got", used as a substitute for ordinary "have" (almost exclusively as a present tense, in spite of the form): British: have got some ..., haven't got any ... American: have got some ..., haven't got any ... ! The subject pronoun can combine with the affirmative "have": I've, you've, they've, we've, ... in the idiomatic "have got". Post:47932 also. CalifJim Tenses, Nouns, Pronouns, Present Tenses, Idioms