Transferred negation
We sometimes transfer a negative from a subordinate clause where semantically it belongs to the main clause. Thus we may say: I don t think it will rain instead of I think it won 't rain.
Ex.7. Translate into Russian paying special attention to the position of the negative word:
1. We haven't come to disturb you, darling. 2. He wasn't born in Overton. 3. I don't go to the cinema to learn things. 4. In this backwater of life we don't often have visitors. 5. Larry eats very little and I don't believe he notices what he eats. 6. The answer to that is that everyone doesn't feel like me. 7. We don't move in the same circles. 8. And he didn't paint it very badly. 9. All the interesting people don't live in the neighbourhood of the Arc de Triomphe and the Avenue Foch. 10. In fact few interesting people do, because interesting people generally don't have a lot of money. 11. I don't suppose I had seen her a dozen times. 12. You know I don't go there often.
Ex.8. Translate into English:
1. Думаю, что у нас нет сейчас времени. 2. Я не всегда их одобряю. 3. Полагаю, что Изабел не бывала в Париже. 4. Я думал не о вас. 5. Том выглядел настоящим бродягой (a regular vagabond). Думаю, что и я выглядел не намного лучше. 6. Джейн родилась не в Ливерпуле. 7. Думаю, он не любит ее. 8. Я хожу на работу не для того, чтобы работать. 9. Очень немногие люди ценят свободу. 10. Полагаю, вы бывали здесь не часто.
Constructing a negative sentence
As an English sentence usually contains only one negator, all other negative words are to be replaces by the non-assertive words:
I can get no eggs. → I can’t get any eggs.
She seldom says anything.
I’ve hardly been anywhere since Christmas.
He denied that he had ever seen her.
Please forget that I ever told you anything about it.
I’d rather o it without anybody’s help.
Ex.9. Rewrite the underlined part of each sentence to make a meaningful negative alternative. There may be more than one way of rewriting some sentences.
Example: I'll accept interruptions from you or any one else while I'm speaking → I'll accept no interruptions… Or: I won't accept any interruptions...
1. We hope that the soldiers experience a lot of resistance when they enter the city. 2. After the images of the famine, Geldof urged the nation to turn their TVs off. 3. In English, the subjunctive is usually different from the past tense. 4. My brother's only just started his electronics degree, so he tried to repair the TV himself when it went wrong last week. 5. A great number of songbirds are seen these days, owing to the erosion of their natural habitats. 6. In this modern city you get an impression of life in the precapitalist era. 7. I was willing to help the children, as they had to take responsibility for the schoolwork they brought home. 8. War crimes should be both commonplace and accepted in times of conflict. 9. The estimated fee for the project was unreasonable, but I decided to negotiate further. 10. I think that our company will be offering aid to the disaster zone this time.
A double negative is possible in the following cases:
if both words have their full meaning:
Don’t say nothing (= Don’t be silent, say something)
You have no reason not to trust me.
if negation refers to different parts of the sentence:
I’ve never had and never wanted a television set.
I can never get in touch with Thomas, as he has no telephone.
No, not tomorrow, she said.
To make a positive meaning:
Oh well you sleep on sherry though – it makes you sleepy, you can’t not sleep.