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I want not talk about it?



 
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ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
Difference between lunch and luncheon? | What do these tow sentences mean?
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I want not talk about it? #1 (permalink) Sun Sep 25, 2005 23:25 pm   I want not talk about it?
 

Hi, I've come across this phrase: I want not talk about it. I know that sentence should read I don't want to talk about but it has been written by a native speaker of English and that's why I wonder if the first version would be acceptable too? Thanks
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I want not talk about it? #2 (permalink) Mon Sep 26, 2005 7:56 am   I want not talk about it?
 

.
Not acceptable as it stands.

A rare form is I want not to talk about it. In this case it seems rather awkward, but in some situations we stress the desire, etc, by not transferring the negative to the main (I think/feel/want/etc) clause:

I never want to see her again. (normal transfer of negativity to the main clause)

I want to never see her again. (negative element retained in the nonfinite object clause)
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