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25-Aug-2006, 03:49
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| |  Re: almost can't
Quote:
Originally Posted by Philly  .
I agree it wouldn't be terribly usual, ... | Why not "...wouldn't be terribly unusual, ..."?
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------------ Quote:
Originally Posted by dihen I noticed that in English, it often sounds strange to place adverbs of frequency, time, or degree, before negation; why?
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consider these:
"not recently/currently/lately/formerly/originally/usually/generally/normally/typically/at first/before/in fact/previously"
is more common than
"recently/currently/lately/formerly/originally/usually/generally/typically/normally/at first/before/in fact/previously not" | Can someone at least tell me the difference of placing "not" before the adverb and placing "not" after the adverb, such as? :
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"it is currently not" and "it is not currently"
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"I have recently not" and "I have not recently"
Last edited by dihen; 25-Aug-2006 at 04:03.
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25-Aug-2006, 08:49
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| | unusual vs usual
Quote:
Originally Posted by dihen Quote:
Originally Posted by Philly
.
I agree it wouldn't be terribly usual, ...
| Why not "...wouldn't be terribly unusual, ..."? | Because saying " unusual" doesn't mean the same thing, dihen! That would mean exactly the opposite of what I wanted to say. 
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In my opinion, " almost can't" is definitely not a typical collocation. I just wasn't willing to completely rule out the usage. If someone were to use it, I'd understand the meaning to be similar to "can hardly."
. |
25-Aug-2006, 11:50
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| | Re: unusual vs usual
Quote:
Originally Posted by Philly Quote:
Originally Posted by dihen Quote: |
Originally Posted by dihen I agree it wouldn't be terribly usual, ... | Why not "...wouldn't be terribly unusual, ..."? | Because saying " unusual" doesn't mean the same thing, dihen! That would mean exactly the opposite of what I wanted to say. | So you were using "terribly" as "very"?
Last edited by dihen; 25-Aug-2006 at 12:47.
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25-Aug-2006, 12:10
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| | Re: which adverbs can't have a 'not' after them?
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Yes, that's right.
. |
01-Sep-2006, 16:15
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| | Re: which adverbs can't have a 'not' after them?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Philly Yes, that's right. | Actually, the main reason that I suggested "terribly unusual" was because I thought that "...it wouldn't be terribly usual" meant "...it wouldn't be terribly usual, but it's still somewhat usual.". |
01-Sep-2006, 16:39
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| | Re: which adverbs can't have a 'not' after them?
Hi dihen
What I wanted to say is that almost can't is not a standard or typical collocation. It is unusual.
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BUT I think it is wrong to claim that a native speaker would never say it.
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02-Sep-2006, 03:43
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| | Re: which adverbs can't have a 'not' after them?
Will a native speaker say "They are both not coming."? |
02-Sep-2006, 03:59
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| | Re: almost can't
Quote:
Originally Posted by dihen Can someone at least tell me the difference of placing "not" before the adverb and placing "not" after the adverb, such as? |  "not" is a pre-modifier:
[1] not recently seen
=> here time is negated; it's in focus.
[2] recently not seen
=> here the act is negated; it's in focus. |
03-Sep-2006, 10:44
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| | Re: which adverbs can't have a 'not' after them?
Will native speakers say these?
`
"almost don't need to"
"almost don't have to" |
03-Sep-2006, 20:19
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| | Re: which adverbs can't have a 'not' after them?
Quote:
Originally Posted by dihen Will native speakers say these?
`
"almost don't need to"
"almost don't have to" | Yes, that is possible. (Say: "Would native speakers say these?")  | | Thread Tools | | | | Display Modes |  Linear Mode | 
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