Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In linguistics and grammar, affirmation (abbreviated AFF) and negation (NEG) are ways in which grammar encodes positive and negative polarity into verb phrases, clauses, or other utterances. An affirmative (positive) form is used to express the validity or truth of a basic assertion, while a negative form expresses its falsity.
An affirmation is a positive polarity item, abbreviated PPI or AFF. A negation is a negative polarity item , abbreviated NPI or NEG . The linguistic environment in which a polarity item appears is a licensing context .
These verbs mostly have only positive and negative present and past tense forms can/can't/cannot and could/couldn't, may and might/mightn't, shall/shan't and should/shouldn't, will/won't and would/wouldn't, as well as need/needn't. Ought and must are also defective and have only a positive and negative form. In some dialects, dare also has a ...
An example given by John Sinclair is the verb set in, which has a negative prosody: e.g. rot (with negative associations) is a prime example of what is going to 'set in'. [1] Another well-known example is the verb sense of cause , which is also used mostly in a negative context (accident, catastrophe, etc.), [ 2 ] though one can also say that ...
Two of them also use emphasis to make the meaning clearer. The last example is a popular example of a double negative that resolves to a positive. This is because the verb 'to doubt' has no intensifier which effectively resolves a sentence to a positive. Had we added an adverb thus: I never had no doubt this sentence is false.
A verb together with its dependents, excluding its subject, may be identified as a verb phrase (although this concept is not acknowledged in all theories of grammar [23]). A verb phrase headed by a finite verb may also be called a predicate. The dependents may be objects, complements, and modifiers (adverbs or adverbial phrases).
50 positive life quotes to inspire, and lift your spirit each day. Olivia Munson, USA TODAY. Updated December 10, 2024 at 2:23 PM "Life's a climb. But the view is great." There are times when ...
The first English grammar, Bref Grammar for English by William Bullokar, published in 1586, does not use the term "auxiliary" but says: All other verbs are called verbs-neuters-un-perfect because they require the infinitive mood of another verb to express their signification of meaning perfectly: and be these, may, can, might or mought, could, would, should, must, ought, and sometimes, will ...