By Negations, Tenses

This is an interesting idea, but it doesn't seem to always work. For example, I would say "The sun will rise and the birds will start singing" (rather than "The sun will rise and the birds start singing") even if the birds start singing the instant the sun rises. To me,...

that I know how to ... (NO!)

Hi,I am afraid I didn't understand exactly what you wanted. Hopefully someone else will be able to understand and help you a little more. Anyway, I just wanted to give you a few opinions:I have bought a book for a year. <-- No, this is not good, as you said.You could say:I have lived...

Of the four, I would not use the third -- thought ... can't ...Actually, I probably wouldn't use any of them. Normally the negation is "raised" to the main clause with verbs like think. I would use one of these:She think that her purse could have been found by any of the...

No. The negation of has got to is hasn't got to. Note, however, that the expression have got to is used almost exclusively in present time in affirmative statements, not in interrogatives, negatives, or in other tenses. Change to have to for those.Those marked with ? below should be...

Do existed in Old English more than a thousand years ago as a regular verb and meant to cause. It is impossible to say who introduced it to English. It's use as an auxiliary in questions and negations was established in Shakespeare's day when it was correct to say bothI know not himandI...

Need sometimes behaves like a modal, for example 'She need know', 'She needn't know', or, in more formal English, 'She need not know'.Palmer (The English Verb) says, "The modal forms are available only with ... negation and interrogation." So She need know is not possible. It has to be She...

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...

I don't think there's any problem with the tense. The problem is, as you say, with the double negation.

Students are often led to believe that the past perfect must indicate a situation that existed before another. (This is true in general.) But, following this logic, it seems that the past perfect could never occur in a before clause. (It 'should' only occur in the main clause in such...