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

Re: Questions beginning with contractions

Clive — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:25:41 GMT

Hi,

Can't I begin a sentence with a contraction and have it not seen as entrapping? I'm not sure I'd use the word 'entrapping'. I'd save that for times when you ask your husband, 'Don't you love me?' But anyway, I understand what you mean.

i.e. - Don't you want the television off?

My thinking is that if they DO want it off, then the answer would be yes; if they want it left on, the answer should be no. My spouse thinks the opposite.

My husband and I are having a debate about the phrasing of such questions and exactly how to answer them, who is correct?

Let's consider a positive form first, and then a negative form.

Do you want the TV off? Answer - Yes, I hate TV.

Don't you want the TV off? Logic indicates the negative should be added to both the question and the answer, so the answer should be No, I hate TV.

However, logic isn't everything. I think that in practice native speakers have trouble figuring out the right answer, so we avoid asking questions in that form. If we do get asked such a question, we usually answer in a longer form than just 'yes/no', and ensure that our meaning is clear.

eg Mary: Don't you love me? Tom: Darling, I love you with all my heart, yes, yes, yes!

Best wishes, Clive

Re: Why not 'you're'

CalifJim — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 04:40:51 GMT

You can't have an affirmative contraction before a gap, although you can have a negative one.

You are so beautiful tonight.

How beautiful you are __ _______ tonight!

*How beautiful you're tonight!

__________

You are smart and I am smart, too.

You are smart and I am ____, too.

*You're smart and I'm, too.

You're smart, but I'm not.

You're smart, but he's not.

You're smart, but he isn't.

_________

He is taller than you are (tall).

He is taller than you are ____.

*He's taller than you're ____.

________

I'll go to the concert, but you won't __ __ ___ ______.

*I won't go to the concert, but you'll __ __ ___ _______.

I won't go to the concert, but you will __ __ ___ _______.

(Recall that * indicates an ungrammatical sentence.)

Re: mustn't / must not

Avangi — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 01:02:51 GMT

Hi Viceidol,

Going strictly by ear, "must not" works fine in your example, but we seem to use the contraction only in cases where we're warning someone not to do something. I have no idea why.

You mustn't be at home when they come. They're planning to kill you.

I have the sense that in your example, the "not" goes with the "be at home," and the contraction somehow gets in the way of that. The "must" is the logical result of the first clause. That result is simply negative.

he must (not be at home)

Best wishes, - A.

Re: this is my first Gre issue ,please help me to correct it

Mister Micawber — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 04:22:04 GMT

Hello Ipkqi, and welcome to English forums. I have deleted unnecessary verbiage and underlined other problem areas:

When it comes to ~~talk about~~ cooperation, most people ~~seem to~~ tend to choose partners who have the same views ~~with them~~. Because they think disagreement can cause stress and inhibit learning ~~as the author said~~ [Do not mention 'the author'; the question is not a part of the essay]. But in my opinion, learning or debating with those whose views contradict ours can not solely help us to find ~~out the~~ flaws in our views but also to make us think different.

~~It is true that~~ disadvantages such as stress brought out from leaning or debating with people who have contradictive views cannot be ingored ,and they do hold negative effects on individual progress.Someone who always feels stress may easily change his ~~idea~~ though there's [Do not use contractions in essays] nothing wrong in his views .Unfortunly ,~~there do exist~~ many people ~~who~~ are not confident ~~and brave~~ enough to insist their views.

But we cannot neglect the positive effects of ~~the~~ contradictive views.~~There is no doubt that~~ nobody can make sure that his views are completely correct and ~~do not need to be improved little more~~ need no improvement. In actual, people who have similar views always make the same mistakes consciously [??]. Admittedly, by a strict and comprehensive look-over which would take more time and energy ,the flaws might be found ~~out~~, but the angles from which we analyze problems would not get changed. In other words ,a wider sight needs more general angles that can only be obtained from different views, and most of time "different" means contradictive.

Furthermore, sharing views with those who disagree with us may help to prove our views. For instance ,in 1678 ,~~Physicist~~ Huygens advanced a series of theorems on discribing behaviors of light, but Poisson, another physicist, thought Huygens' theory were wrong ,and then Poisson made some experiments in order to prove his thought .But eventually Poisson's experiments proved Huygens was right adversely [??]. Suppose that Huygens did not publicize his theory so that Poisson didn't know that, maybe he would ever be suspecious of the theroy of his own.

~~From what has been discussed above, we can come to the conclusion that~~ there's no denying the fact that sometimes contradictive views can be negative,but the benefits can overweigh the disadvantages.

Please check your spelling before submitting essays. Commas and full stops have no blank space before and one blank space after.

Re: Interrogative sentence

Avangi — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 18:05:50 GMT

Anthon wrote:
Hi, can someone check my sentences:

1. Can you not say about him again?   Do you mean, "Can you / Can't you please repeat what you said about him?"

2. Have you been trying not to be a cheater?   Have/Haven't you been trying not to cheat?

3. Can't you say it all out?    Do you mean, "Can't you say what you mean?"

4. Have you not had ur your dinner?   Haven't you had your dinner?

5. should you not go to your friend's party? Shouldn't you go to your friend's party?

6. Will you not be a hater again?   [not sure what we're driving at here.]

7. Have you not been behaving yourself?   Haven't you been behaving yourself?

if there're wrong ones please show me the correct ones Thanks

Hi Anthon,

It would help to know what the instructions were for this exercise. Conversationally, the contractions are much more common than the forms you've used, but there's nothing wrong with yours - except I don't know what #6 is trying to say. And in #2 I don't know if you want a negative question or a positive one.

Re: Adverbs of frequency

CalifJim — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 02:01:45 GMT

Argh! The adverb question again!
Have you gone through this one yet? Post:258302

Here's a new take on the subject. If it doesn't appeal to you, toss it in the trash!

Safe and typical practice: Use contracted forms wherever possible. Then place the adverb of frequency after the first contraction -- or after uncontracted not. Place sometimes at the beginning: certainly for a negative sentence, but also good for an affirmative. Note: rarely and seldom (and never, of course) have negative polarity already, so don't use in a negative sentence. And don't prepose them unless you want to struggle with the inversions, as Amy points out.

[I'm, you're, he's, she's, we're, they're] (not) [usually / always / often] ...
[I've, you've, he's, she's, we've, they've] [sometimes / usually / always / often / rarely / seldom / never] ...
[I'll, you'll, he'll, she'll, we'll, they'll] [sometimes / usually / always / often / rarely / seldom / never] ...
[I'd, you'd, he'd, she'd, we'd, they'd] [sometimes / usually/ always / often /rarely / seldom / never] ...
[I, you, we, they] [don't / didn't / haven't / won't / wouldn't / shouldn't / can't / ...] [usually / always / often] ...
[he, she] isn't [usually / always / often] ...
[I, he, she] wasn't [usually / always / often] ...
[you, we, they] [aren't / weren't] [usually / always / often] ...

If no contractions, place after the modal verb.

[I, you, he, she, we, they] [can / could / may / might / will / would / ...] [sometimes / usually / always / often / rarely / seldom / never] ...

No contractions? No modals? Just subject followed by a non-modal verb? Place the adverb of frequency between them.

[I, you, he, she, we, they] [sometimes / usually / always / often / rarely / seldom / never] [go / do / like / want / think / ...]

Not using subject pronouns? Using nouns instead? The order doesn't change.

The boys aren't [usually / always / often] ready on time.
The Browns don't [usually / always / often] eat in restaurants.
Fred has (Fred's) [usually / always / often / rarely / seldom / never] recovered from a cold in a week.

CJ

Re: requisite for a subjunctive structure

CalifJim — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 19:01:25 GMT

My question is "If a sentence contains 'didn't + something' in the if-clause, it should not be a subjunctive?"

I'm lost by your use of "should". There's nothing to be done in terms of what one should or should not do. didn't is simply a non-standard substitute subjunctive for the standard subjunctive hadn't -- just as ain't is a non-standard substitute negative contraction for the standard negatives am not, is not, etc.

CJ

Re: did not you tell me vs didn't you tell me

CalifJim — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 20:17:32 GMT

It seems you knew the answer before you asked the question.

The point I was making has nothing to do with any specific rule. It has to do with the fact that it is a "rule".

"Rule" 14827739 (or whatever number you want to give it): Subjects and verbs agree in number.
"Rule" 40378299 (or whatever): In forming an interrogative, do not invert the negative not with the verb unless it is attached as a contraction to the verb.

In short, I consider Do not you agree? ungrammatical, not just unidiomatic.

The division between ungrammatical and unidiomatic is not fixed. In either case you end up with a structure that is not intentionally used by native speakers. Maybe I draw the line differently than others. I don't see why that's such a problem.

(If you want to discuss the difference between grammaticality and idiomaticity further, you may want to start a thread in the linguistics forum.)

CJ

Re: Don't

nona the brit — Thu, 31 May 2007 18:02:02 GMT

Contractions are fine in negative sentences.

Re: Don't

Bokeh — Thu, 31 May 2007 15:42:36 GMT

Kooyeen wrote:
I feel my versions are ok (that's the way to ask), but contractions are not used (so only the first in each pair should sound natural).

None of your questions sound very natural because the scope of answers is too broad. Contractions are fine though for negative questions and are probably used more frecuently:

Isn't the meeting at 2 o'clock. (yes/no)
Doesn't he work as a firefighter. (yes/no)
Why didn't the train stop in ... (because... it was a fast)
Haven't you seen Star Wars. (yes/no)