Search results for 'tag:Determiners tag:Negatives' matching tags 'Determiners' and 'Negatives'

Re: "any"-defining

Kooyeen — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:18:11 GMT

Ok, I've been thinking about it, and this is the best analysis I can come up with.
Any has two major meanings:

1) Any = Some, like a kind of partitive, a determiner like "some". Used in negative sentences, questions, and parts of sentences introduced by "if". Always followed by nouns in the plural (except for some rare cases that won't be discussed here)
2) Any = No matter which. Used in every kind of sentence (negative, affirmative, questions). It can be followed by nouns in the singular (= any one, no matter which), or in the plural (= any group, no matter which). So the choice between singular or plural depends on the context and what you mean to convey.

Here are some examples. Comments in italics.

1 - Do you have any sisters? You might have some sisters. I am just asking.
2 - I don't have any sisters. I have no sisters.
3 - Have you ever been to any foreign countries? You might have been to some foreign countries. I am just asking.
4 - If you have any questions, give us a call. You might have some questions. If so, call us.
5 - Any teacher would tell you that practicing is important. Any one of them, no matter who.
6 - Any children found in possession of hallucinogenic lollipops will be arrested immediately. Any group of them, no matter which.
7 - This program will help you remove any viruses your PC might have. Any group of them. You probably have several viruses.
8 - I'll give you one toy for free. You can pick any toy you like in my store. Any toy, one toy.
9 - Hey hey! Wanna see a magic trick? Pick a card. Any card, come on. Any card, one card.
10 - Have you found any traces of alien life in any / any planets yet? Red = Someone hopes to see some traces in some planets. Blue = Any group of planets, no matter which. Alien life is expected to be discovered in more than one planet. ---- This example shows how it is sometimes possible to consider "any" as both red and blue at the same time, with no difference in the overall meaning.
11 - Have you found any traces of alien life in any planet yet? Someone hopes to see some traces in one planet. Multiple discoveries in more than one planet are not expected or likely.
12 - I haven't found anything in any planet. Any planet, no matter which one I analyzed. Every planet I checked showed no traces of life.
13 - Have you found any of those mysterious words in any dictionary? Any dictionary, any one of them, no matter which. I don't expect those dictionaries to help much, but you might have found a couple of words in one of them.

This is my opinion, the best I have ever had on "any", LOL. I'd really like it if a native speaker took a look at it and told me their opinion. It took me a while to figure out of a sensible rule of thumb to illustrate the usage of "any", but I am a non-native speaker and so... I can't be sure of anything. But that was the best I could do! Did it make sense? Was it good?

Re: few, tag questions

Teo — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 13:29:11 GMT

There are several adverbs and determiners which are negative in meaning but not in form. They include: seldom, rarely; scarcely, hardly, barely; little, few (in contrast to the positive a little and a few) They can effect clause negation: for example sentences in which they appear generally require a positive tag question.

1. There are few students in the classroom, __ there? (A) are (B) aren't

I think the answer is A because few is negative in meaning. Am I right?

3. There are only a few students in the classroom, __ there? (A) are (B) aren't

Is only a few positive or negative in meaning?

Re: there is not/ there is no

Lcchang — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 18:50:27 GMT

CalifJim wrote:
difference is a countable noun. Countable nouns in the singular require a determiner. no is a determiner. not is not a determiner. not negates the verb.

So you can have the positive statement There is with the determiner no and noun the difference.
Or you can have the negative statement There is not with the determiner any and noun difference.

But you can't have the negative There is not and then add difference without a determiner.

CJ

Thank you CJ. I love your answer the best. Thanks to others too.

LCChang

Re: there is not/ there is no

CalifJim — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 21:10:19 GMT

difference is a countable noun. Countable nouns in the singular require a determiner. no is a determiner. not is not a determiner. not negates the verb.

So you can have the positive statement There is with the determiner no and noun the difference.
Or you can have the negative statement There is not with the determiner any and noun difference.

But you can't have the negative There is not and then add difference without a determiner.

CJ

Re: ï¼´ï½ï½ï½ãï½ï½ãï¼®ï¼¯ãï½ï½ï½ï½ãï½ï½ï½ï½

Clive — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 06:17:33 GMT

Hi,

Please look the sentence "This is NO easy task". What part of speech is "NO" in the sentence? My English-Japanese dictionaries say this NO is an Adjective because it modifies and negates the phrase "easy task". But I understand that "task" is a Countable Noun and if I am right, I think we maybe need to put some determiner before "no (Adj) + easy (Adj) + task (countable N)". So I think this "NO" is rather a kind of negative article (or determiner) that is equivalent to the German "KEIN". Am I right?

I can't compare to the German language. However, I would agree that 'no' is a determiner here.

We also say things like

Tom is no honest man.

No excuse(s) will be accepted.

No man is an island.

No bus stops on Main Street.

Best wishes, Clive

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Anonymous — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 05:38:17 GMT

Hello

I'm an English learner from Japan and I have a question.

Please look the sentence "This is NO easy task". What part of speech is "NO" in the sentence? My English-Japanese dictionaries say this NO is an Adjective because it modifies and negates the phrase "easy task". But I understand that "task" is a Countable Noun and if I am right, I think we maybe need to put some determiner before "no (Adj) + easy (Adj) + task (countable N)". So I think this "NO" is rather a kind of negative article (or determiner) that is equivalent to the German "KEIN". Am I right?

Thank you in advance

Re: mistake

nona the brit — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 09:41:44 GMT

Oh, sorry, I thought your second sentence was asking the question about the first sentence .

Not quite, you have the wrong determiner and you would be better off with commas. Also, as a question, it should end with a question mark.

Does that sentence have a negative meaning, a positive meaning, or both?

Re: Use of "The" with an acronym.

CalifJim — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 18:45:59 GMT

I wonder if it matters whether the acronym designates an institution or not.

I am familiar with a few acronyms that can take determiners, but they do not designate institutions.

-- Can you check this account for me?
-- Sure. What's the PIN? (Personal Identification Number)

-- What were the results of the ELISA? (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - a medical test)
-- Negative.

Still, it seems to me that I've heard one or two acronyms for institutions with "the". And they struck me as strange-sounding, but yet I think they exist even though I can't remember any just now.

CJ

Re: Classification of the word "The"

Mister Micawber — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 10:58:08 GMT

The is an article (the definite article, to be precise), a kind of determiner.

Your set of 'negatives' are not of the same nature of classification of parts of speech as are conjunctions, determiners, adjectives, etc. Not is an adverb (albeit negative), did is an auxiliary verb.

Re: A question on the need for determiners

CalifJim — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 06:58:54 GMT

Sources of simple examples to be examined from the viewpoint of grammatical constructions need not be cited. Cite the source when the material quoted is part of your argument for or against some point of view.

As for your question about "mustn't", the more idiomatic phrasing is "When you list these things, don't they have to have determiners in front of them ...?" Also acceptable is "When you list these things, mustn't they have determiners in front of them ...?" I don't recommend "When you list these things, must they not have determiners ...?" And I recommend even less "When you list these things, must not they have ...?". The negative does not normally appear before the subject unless it is in contracted form (n't).

[Note "they", not "them", above.]

Now for your main question. It is not absolutely necessary to place "a" in front of each item in a series, but it does not create the best effect stylistically. Personally, I would repeat "a"/"an" as needed.

CJ

Search results for 'tag:Determiners tag:Negatives' matching tags 'Determiners' and 'Negatives'

Re: "any"-defining

Re: few, tag questions

Re: there is not/ there is no

Re: there is not/ there is no

Re: ï¼´ï½ï½ï½ãï½ï½ãï¼®ï¼¯ãï½ ï½ï½ï½ãï½ï½ï½ï½

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Re: mistake

Re: Use of "The" with an acronym.

Re: Classification of the word "The"

Re: A question on the need for determiners

Re: ï¼´ï½ï½ï½ãï½ï½ãï¼®ï¼¯ãï½ï½ï½ï½ãï½ï½ï½ï½

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