negation
part of speech
noun (negation, uncountable; a negation, negations)
meaning for a pupil
1) Saying «no» or «not»; making a sentence mean the opposite by adding a word like not, never or no. tree →
2) (maths, logic) The opposite of a statement: the negation of «it is raining» is «it is not raining». tree →
3) (formal) The complete opposite or cancelling out of something. tree →
sense in the lessons
In grammar lessons, negation is making negative sentences with «not», «don't», «never», «no», «nobody». In maths and logic puzzles, the negation of a statement is true when the statement is false. In formal writing: «cheating is the negation of fair play».
examples
- «I do not like it» is a negation of «I like it». tree →
- Add «not» to make a negation. tree →
- The negation of «all cats are black» is «not all cats are black». tree →
- Double negation, like «I didn't do nothing», is a dialect form. tree →
- In maths, the negation of «x is bigger than 5» is «x is not bigger than 5». tree →
- Bullying is the negation of kindness. tree →
note
From «negate» and «negative». Trap: the negation of «all» is «not all» (some are not), not «none». In maths, negating a number (making it negative) means changing its sign: the negation of 5 is -5. Double negatives in Standard English cancel out, but in many dialects they just add emphasis.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «negation» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.