where is the "Assertion"???

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IraqiTranslator  #442262  Tue, 13 Nov 07 09:14 PM

Hello all,

We, -my classmates and I- are facing a problim with (Assertion and non-assertion) by shifting an adverbial in a sentence, eg:

He studied carfully last night.

Carefully he studied last night.

He studied last night carefully.

I mean when we shift or prefix an element such as the adverbial mentioned above, which part of the sentence we assert? the element or the rest of the sentence?

I hope you understand my question and many thanks in advance.

  
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CalifJim  #442280  Tue, 13 Nov 07 10:14 PM
Welcome to English Forums!

I'm not sure that I understood your question, but feel free to continue the discussion with further questions if my answer is not what you wanted.
_______

First of all, assertion, in contrast to non-assertion, simply refers to a declarative statement that is not a negation or a question or a part of a subordinate clause.

He studies carefully.  (Assertion)
He does not study carefully.  (Non-assertion; negation)
Does he study carefully?  (Non-assertion; question)
If he studies carefully, ...  (Non-assertion; condition)

It makes no difference where the adverbs are located.  The movement of an adverb cannot change an assertion to a non-assertion or change a non-assertion to an assertion.

In the case of your sentence, the adverb carefully describes the studying, no matter where you place the word carefullycarefully is an adverb of manner; it tells how the studying happened.

CJ



  
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IraqiTranslator  #442420  Wed, 14 Nov 07 08:52 AM

thanks alot

and let me correct the word Assertion  to the word Emphasising,

thanks again for your answer

  
Yankee  #442469  Wed, 14 Nov 07 12:47 PM
Hi IraqiTranslator

Your sentence is not a good candidate for moving the word 'carefully' around.  "He studied carefully last night" is fine, but if you move the word 'carefully', the sentence only becomes awkward. So I wouldn't change the placement of the word 'carefully' in that sentence.  You could move the time reference to the beginning of the sentence, however:
Last night he studied carefully.

---------------------------------

This is the sort of sentence that works with 'carefully' in a variety of positions:

He carefully studied the book.
He studied the book carefully.
Carefully he studied the book.

To me, the last sentence places the most emphasis on the word 'carefully'.
  
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