TA的每日心情 | 慵懒
2019-1-23 10:04 |
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本帖最后由 trivialstuff 于 2019-1-3 20:35 编辑
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/harken-back
Collins官网也有此例句，摘自Lois McMaster Bujold的THE CURSE OF CHALION (2001)，原文如此。
"see if I can't"其实不算错，反倒是比"see if I can"这种不确定的语气更多了几分自信，因为它的潜台词像是预设了"我可以做到（如果没出什么意外的话）"。
参考：
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservic ... 1024_aae_cant.shtml
the question is, why do we use the strange negative version? I have given this a lot of consideration and I think that the idea is that the speaker is giving the sentence extra emphasis by using this unusual negative form...
So, by making a sentence which says we should try to disprove a negative, we will actually see if the positive is possible. By looking at the world with this view, with this strange but true logic, we are giving emphasis to the sentence, because our language is choice is unusual.
https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2009/02/negative-feedback.html
I think a sentence like “Let’s see if we can’t win” suggests that in fact we WILL win. On the other hand, the simple statement “Let’s see if we can win” is noncommittal. It doesn’t anticipate the outcome one way or the other.
http://www.eslhq.com/forums/esl- ... f-i-cant-help-5859/
For me the affirmative leaves the question open : I'll see if I can help or not - It gives the idea that I don't know, or haven't decided. The answer may be yes or no.
I'll see if I can't help, on the other hand, implies that I want/intend to help as long as nothing unpredicted stops me.
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发表于 2019-1-3 19:51:37
