Change into negative/help

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Change into negative/help
Message from mohammad51 posted on 23-10-2022 at 23:39:08 (D | E | F)
Hello
I found the following sentence in one grammar book; its author is Indian then I found the answer to the same question as follow :

Change affirmative into negative

affirmative : Caesar trusted Brutus.

Negative : Caesar did not mistrust Brutus.

My question: is the answer given correct ?

Thank you in advance.

Re: Change into negative/help from jonquille, posted on 24-10-2022 at 06:12:02 (D | E)
Bonjour,

Change affirmative into negative

Affirmative : Caesar trusted Brutus.

Negative : Caesar did not mistrust Brutus. NO

As in mathematics, in English "two negatives = positive" Thus, Caesar did not mistrust Brutus = Caesar trusted Brutus

Negative: Caesar did not (didn't) trust Brutus. OR Caesar mistrusted Brutus.

Hope this helps!
jonquille

Re: Change into negative/help from mohammad51, posted on 24-10-2022 at 15:57:53 (D | E)
Hello
Thank you very much jonquille

Good idea you said

As in mathematics, in English "two negatives = positive

And I also thought the same ( double negative ) !

Is it all wrong everywhere?

I went and searched Google books and found it is used ( didn't mistrust ) ?

Julius Caesar - Page 169

But Brutus would not agree to it. First, for that
he said it was not honest; secondly, because he told them there was hope of
change in him. For he did not mistrust but that Antonius, being a nobleminded
and courageous man, when he should know that Caesar was dead,
would willingly help his country to recover her liberty, having them an
example unto him, to follow their courage and virtue.

Link

Re: Change into negative/help from gerondif, posted on 24-10-2022 at 17:22:24 (D | E)
Hello
Your sentence means:
For he was sure that / he didn't doubt that / Antonius, being a nobleminded
and courageous man, when he should know that Caesar was dead,
would willingly help his country to recover her liberty, having them an
example unto him, to follow their courage and virtue.

Re: Change into negative/help from mohammad51, posted on 24-10-2022 at 20:08:55 (D | E)
Hello
Welcome back dear teacher gerondif
I am very happy to see you answer my question.
OK, I got what you said. Anyway, it seems to me that some people use the double negative though many refuse.
it is not the only example I found. Let's move forward and get the correct answer to my question topic ( 1)

Indeed, I got it from one book of grammar I found in Google; its author is Indian and those Indian people many times I don't agree with them.
They use the English language in such a way is particular to their thoughts.
But what to do ! Everywhere you go Google and search, you can't find but the results of those.
Not only the one example I brought; still more examples suggest making the transformation in a way of a double negative
Suppose it is right Negative + negative = positive
---
Conclusion If the answer given is not correct, what answer you suggest please

affirmative : Caesar trusted Brutus.

Re: Change into negative/help from gerondif, posted on 25-10-2022 at 17:30:41 (D | E)
Hello
Quite simply: If your exercise is : Turn into the negative form:
Then
Affirmative : Caesar trusted Brutus.
Negative : Caesar did not trust Brutus. or, with "miss" as a prefix : Caesar mistrusted Brutus.

The idea behind a sentence like : "Caesar did not mistrust Brutus". is :
Caesar had no reason to mistrust Brutus, He thought he needn't fear Brutus, there was no reason why he should have thought Brutus unfaithful or disloyal.

It is not quite the same to say : "I love you" and "I don't hate you", "I am not completely indifferent to you".

Re: Change into negative/help from mohammad51, posted on 26-10-2022 at 05:19:15 (D | E)
Hello

Thank you dear teacher gerondif
It is already so
I can say the internet ( anywhere in Google books ) is full of such these examples
Here is one for example
D. Change the following negative sentences into affirmative sentences. One has been done for you.
There is no rose without a thorn. Every rose has a thorn.

The Principal did not disagree with the plan. ( Negative )
As a matter of fact = agreed

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