Grammar

[Loh Jane]

Hi English Teachers,
Do the below two sentences have the same meaning? Thanks a lot in advance.
That is not to say that the men are not handsome.
That is to say that the men are handsome.

[emsr2d2]

No.

[JMurray]

not a teacher

Here are a couple of sentences to show how your examples work.

1) I'm not attracted to these men. That's not to say (that) they aren't handsome, I just don't like their personalities.
2) I think these men are quite attractive on the surface. That is to say, the men are handsome, but I know nothing of their character.

[Loh Jane]

thank you Jmurray,
do the sentence 1 and sentence 2 have the same meaning?

[5jj]

No. In sentence #1, the men are probably handsome, but this is not made explicit. In sentence #2 they are definitely handsome.

[Loh Jane]

Thank you 5jj teacher.