Search results for 'tag:Negations tag:Prepositions' matching tags 'Negations' and 'Prepositions'

Re: Using ''need'' as a modal

Cool Breeze — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 13:06:55 GMT

Jackson6612 wrote:
Need sometimes behaves like a modal, for example 'She need know', 'She needn't know', or, in more formal English, 'She need not know'.

Examples:

1: You needn't worry

2: Buying budget-priced furniture needn't mean compromising on quality or style...

3: Loneliness can be horrible, but it need not remain that way...

4: You needn't come again, if you don't want to...

[an excerpt from Collins COBUILD Dictionary]

I would have written the above examples as:

1: You needn't to worry

2: Buying budget-priced furniture doesn't mean compromising on quality or style...

3: Loneliness can be horrible, but it need not to remain that way...

4: You needn't to come again, if you don't want to...

Questions:

1: I suppose ''to'' is functioning as a preposition in the above examples. Why can't a preposition be used after a modal?

Hi Jackson

You've got it wrong. To isn't a preposition in your sentences after need, it's a particle before an infinitive.

Examples of to as a preposition:

I am going to the park.
We are listening to him.

Examples of to as part of an infinitive:
I want to go there.
It's impossible to learn this.

The to-particle is normally not used after a modal auxiliary, or a defective auxiliary, as they are also called:
I will do it tomorrow.
Can he swim?
You should buy it.
You should have bought it.

If you use need or dare in the same way as the modals are used, they behave in exactly the same way as the modals:
1. You don't use do in questions and negations.
2. You don't use the third person singular s-inflection.
3. You don't use to before the infinitive.

Examples:
Can he come? Need he come? Dare he come?
1. NOT: Does he can come? (Wrong!!!)
2. NOT: Cans he come? Needs he come? Dares he come? (Wrong, wrong, wrong!!!)
3. NOT: Can he to come? Need he to come? (Wrong!!!)

You cannot use need in the past tense at all in the above way, but dare is sometimes possible in the past tense as well:
He dared not do it. (Or: He didn't dare to do it.)

Cheers
CB

Re: Still or yet / meet (with)

My Celine — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 16:50:52 GMT

Jupath wrote:

Hello,

1., I had believed that in the case of question or negation "still" became "yet", then I came across the following sentence: "Langdom still had not got used to these moments of unexpected celebrity." (The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown) Is it correct? I mean, it is obviously correct, but if this kind of usage of "still" is proper what the rule is?

2., My second question referred to "meet". Despite grammar books, I have seen so far, say that "meet" doesnât have preposition, Iâve come across kinds of sentences where "meet" had "with" prepostition. Actually, is it correct to say e.g. I met with Tom yesterday?

Thank you

According to my dictionary, meet with means having a meeting with someone.

Still or yet / meet (with)

jupath — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 12:08:05 GMT

Hello,

1., I had believed that in the case of question or negation "still" became "yet", then I came across the following sentence: "Langdom still had not got used to these moments of unexpected celebrity." (The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown) Is it correct? I mean, it is obviously correct, but if this kind of usage of "still" is proper what the rule is?

2., My second question referred to "meet". Despite grammar books, I have seen so far, say that "meet" doesnât have preposition, Iâve come across kinds of sentences where "meet" had "with" prepostition. Actually, is it correct to say e.g. I met with Tom yesterday?

Thank you

Re: regarding question of general's form of negation?pls tell me

apet — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 17:18:55 GMT

go to bed, go to cinema, go to party, go to school

You should notice that all these "bed""cinema""school" are nouns, and "go" is an intransitive verb. There's gotta be some preposition between them. That's why "to" appears here.

go there

"there" is an adverb used to modify the verb "go". There is no need to add other prepositions here. So, we do not use "to".

Re: Difference between American and British English

M. Hus — Wed, 28 Jul 2004 15:17:43 GMT

There are differences in accent, grammar and words. British accent needs no explanation if you've ever heard it. It is SO different from American.

The main grammatical difference is Perfect Tenses.

The Americans would say I just had a breakfast and Did you ever go to Spain. The British would stick to I've just had a breakfast and Have you ever been to Spain. There are some minor differences in preposition use and strucure of sentences as well, but are really not important.

There are lists of words used differently in USA and UK. Some are just spelt differently, others have different meaning (rubber would be understood as an eraser in USA but as condom in UK). Go Google for details.

By the way, the double negation is ungrammatical in English, but not necessarily in other languages. In my native Slovenian, we don't just use the double negation but even the tripple and more. (Nihce nikoli nicesar ne ve -- English word by word translation would be: Nobody never not knows nothing.

Re: As much as

PASTEL — Sun, 11 Jul 2004 09:17:48 GMT

Dear Mirium,

I'm sorry for that breathless post. Are you any better now? Have you caught some Z's? You didn't misunderstand my question at all, this is what I need. I understand the meanings of this ambiguous sentence, and I was trying to analysize it from a grammatical point of view. I'm looking for your positive confirm, or some correction that might cause ant misunderstanding.

Compare these two,

1. I don't like him as much as you.
2. He doesn't like her as much as us.

I've noticed that you mentioned 'you' is viewed as an object pronoun on the condition that the previous 'as' functions as a preposition. Right? So, #1 and #2 are both correct.

Compare these two,

1. I don't like him as much as you.
2. He doesn't like her as much as we.

If 'you' is considered as a nominative(subject), "as...as" functions as compound conjection here, however, #2 is obvious incorrect. In #2, an auxiliary 'do' cannot be omitted, whereas in #1, an auxiliary is allow to go away. This is one of inconsistency I have to accept.

I don't like him as much as you do.

>
I have another question about your idea here. If I follow your idea, then I will think up another sentence that goes like "I like him as much as you do." In this sentence, obviously it delivers an affirmative idea,
"I like him."
"You like him."
Both of us like him.

Back to our original sentence, there is a nagative auxiliary that makes me relate its function to form a negation of the main verb 'like', therefore, I think of "dislike".
"I dislike him."
"You dislike him."
Both of us dislike him but you dislike him more than I do.
( Can you feel my headache now? ;>_

Compare these two,

1. I don't like him as much as you do.
2. I like him as much as you do.

You'd say #1 would be affirmative rather than negative. I'd say it would be the same as in #2. Since they could convey affirmative feeling (both you and I like him.) it must be the negative "not" that annoys me.

In #1, where is the scope of negation? I think the negative 'not' describes 'much' in stead of 'like', doesn't it?

Mirium, I appreciated of all the elaboraed details you've contributed to this subject. Again, thanks for understanding my questions and I look forward to your further comment.

Yours,
PASTEL.

Re: As much as

miriam — Sun, 11 Jul 2004 05:31:06 GMT

Pastel, I have a headache already! ~L~
Let's go step by step

I agree with what you said about the first pair of sentences (me/I do).

Your other example, "I don't like him as much as you" can certainly be ambiguous; the two interpretations you posted are possible.

I agree with your analysis of 2-a.
I'd say, however, that the two sentences would be affirmative rather than negative:
"I like him."
"You like him."

Now, 2-b is the sentence that may be ambiguous, as I've just said.
The personal pronoun "you" has that same form as subject and object. 'You' and 'it' and the only two personal pronouns that have the same form as subject and object; the other pronouns change. Anyway, since you don't have an auxiliary very accompanying "you", you are right to say that the objective form is used. But, be careful; the fact that an objective form is used in this type of sentence depends only on the fact that "as" is a preposition, so when it is followed by a pronoun, it will be an objective pronoun. You can choose between that and a finite clause such as "You do". This example will probably be more clear with other pronouns (those who have different subject and object forms).
"I don't like him as much as you" can mean either that you like him more than I do or that I like you more than I like him.

"He doesn't like her as much as we" sounds weird to you because it is not grammatically correct.
"He doesn't like her as much as us" and "He doesn't like her as much as we do", on the other hand, are correct.
The meaning of "He doesn't like her as much as we do" is clear: we like her more than he does.
The meaning of "He doesn't like her as much as us" is, again, ambiguous. The two possible interpretations are "we like her more than he does", as in the previous example, or "he likes us more than he likes her".

I'm not sure what you mean by the "transformation" part of your post. but let's give that a try as well.

Step 1- "I don't like him as much as you don't like him."
I would avoid that construction if I were you! It isn't correct.

Step 2- "I don't like him as much as you like him."
This sentence is correct, but it can be improved to avoid redundancy.

Step 3- "I don't like him as much as you do."
This is perfect, but it does not mean what you think. The mening of this sentence is the sentence in step #2.
- We both like him, but you like him more than I do.
- We both like him, but I like him less than you do.
- We both like him, but I don't like him so/as much as you do.

The three sentences have the same meaning. In your example, the negation applies only to the first main verb, the verb whose subject is "I".

One more thing:
"I don't like him as much as you do" and "I dislike him as much as you do" have different meanings.

I'm not sure this is what you were looking for. If I misunderstod your question, let me know?

Miriam