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Did you NOT tell her? Certainly, we did



 
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ESL Forums | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
Much/more (The much/most youngest children) | At night VERSUS in the night
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Did you NOT tell her? Certainly, we did Mon Sep 04, 2006 8:46 am  Did you NOT tell her? Certainly, we did
 

Hi

As English is very specific in use of negative forms I often have difficulties with… logic. Smile

‘Did you not <some action, for example, “tell her”>’?
‘Certainly, we did’.

--> ‘We’ told her or not?
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Did you NOT tell her? Certainly, we did Mon Sep 04, 2006 12:08 pm  Did you NOT tell her? Certainly, we did
 

'Did you not tell her ?'
‘Certainly, we did’.

If we told:
"Certainly, we did", or "Yes, we did", "We did, certainly"

If we didn't tell he: "Certainly not", or "We certainly did not".

In each case "tell her" is implied after "did" or "did not".
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Did you NOT tell her? Certainly, we did Mon Sep 04, 2006 15:06 pm  Did you NOT tell her? Certainly, we did
 

.
In English, the response agrees with the truth, Tamara, not with the question's polarity:

Did you tell her? -- No.
Didn't you tell her? -- No.
You told her? -- No.
You didn't tell her? -- No
. In all these she was not told.
.
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Certainly, I did... :) Mon Sep 04, 2006 20:25 pm  Certainly, I did... :)
 

Hmm, how interesting… I mean – independency from (polarity of) a question.
I didn’t know that. And supposedly misinterpreted other’s speaking and made mistakes with my own answers (but who knows?… Smile)

So, now I can surely give the correct answer even before the question will be asked Smile – what a great language, indeed!

Just always answer the truth… or always tell the lie. Smile – the simplest rule of thumb. Smile Smile

Thank you!
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Much/more (The much/most youngest children) | At night VERSUS in the night
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