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soo
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 8:15 am
Post subject: Question about "Will you not...?" |
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We say:
"Won't you help him?"
"Can't you see?"
"Don't you know?"
Do we also say:
"Will you not help him?"
"Can you not see?"
"Do you not know?"
Are they any differences?
p.s. I learned them from Lord of the Rings
Thanks. |
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CyberCypher
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 8:15 am
Post subject: Re: Question about "Will you not...?" |
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soo wrote on 29 Jan 2005:
| Quote: | We say:
"Won't you help him?"
"Can't you see?"
"Don't you know?"
Do we also say:
"Will you not help him?"
"Can you not see?"
"Do you not know?"
Are they any differences?
|
The most striking difference is that one set of sentences contains
contractions and the other doesn't; the next one is that the word
worder changes when the MODAL+PRO+not+VERB is contracted to
MODAL+n't+PRO+VERB.
The LOR versions are not standard American English but certainly might
be used for emphasis, probably by stressing the "not" if the person
being spoken to has indicated a lack of ability or desire to help, a
lack of ability to see or a lack of understanding, or a lack of
knowledge. I don't know about British English, though.
--
Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
For email, replace numbers with English alphabet. |
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soo
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 8:15 am
Post subject: Re: Question about "Will you not...?" |
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Thanks a lot.
So are there any differences in meaning between the 2 sets? |
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R J Valentine
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 2:37 pm
Post subject: Re: Question about "Will you not...?" |
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On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 14:49:12 +0800 soo <soo@none.com> wrote:
} Thanks a lot.
}
} So are there any differences in meaning between the 2 sets?
No.
--
R. J. Valentine <mailto:rj@smart.net> |
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CyberCypher
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 2:40 pm
Post subject: Re: Question about "Will you not...?" |
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soo wrote on 29 Jan 2005:
| Quote: | Thanks a lot.
So are there any differences in meaning between the 2 sets?
|
Not in writing as you have it in your post, but no bit of discourse
stands alone: everything spoken and written occurs in some context that
gives it meaning.
In American English, it would be a bit strange if someone asked the LOR
versions of those questions. You'd know that person being spoken to had
probably said "no" when the speaker had expected a "yes". The
contracted versions could indicate either a real question without the
surprise or, possibly, implied criticism in the LOR version (American-
style, mind you), or the same kind of surprise or implied criticism,
depending on the speaker's tone and a variety of other things that go
into contributing to the meaning of any utterance in any language.
I suppose the only real meaning difference between the two styles of
sentences would be how the speaker/writer is perceived by the
listener/reader. Otherwise, set 1 is equivalent in meaning to set 2,
out of context.
--
Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
For email, replace numbers with English alphabet. |
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Fred
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 3:05 pm
Post subject: Re: Question about "Will you not...?" |
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"soo" <soo@none.com> wrote in message news:ctfd6q$1v07$1@news.hgc.com.hk...
| Quote: | Thanks a lot.
So are there any differences in meaning between the 2 sets?
|
No. Can't you see is a contraction of 'can not you see' When expressed
without the contraction 'can you not see' is a more logical structure. It
is a common form in Br.E.
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Donna Richoux
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 4:18 pm
Post subject: Re: Question about "Will you not...?" |
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soo <soo@none.com> wrote:
| Quote: | We say:
"Won't you help him?"
"Can't you see?"
"Don't you know?"
Do we also say:
"Will you not help him?"
"Can you not see?"
"Do you not know?"
Are they any differences?
p.s. I learned them from Lord of the Rings
|
The first one sounds like everyday, informal English, and the second
sounds old-fashioned and formal.
Tolkien used deliberately archaic English in order to create an
other-world atmosphere. The hobbits tended to speak normal colloquial
English, but the Elves and men were given slightly old-fashioned phrases
to sound courtly, chivalrous, ancient, etc. Tolkien enjoyed using
different English words to convey the idea that these peoples had their
own language and history. (Somewhere in the Appendix he discusses how
the names you see on the characters are meant to approximate what their
*real* names were. As if this was real history.)
So you are right to wonder about the difference. You really shouldn't
use that old word order in your English today, although it doesn't hurt
to know about it.
--
Best -- Donna Richoux |
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soo
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 10:04 pm
Post subject: Re: Question about "Will you not...?" |
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| Thanks a lot to all of you. |
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