Analyzing and Interpreting Literature / Unit 2 AIL 0121 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Negation Without Do
Captions available
The idea
Older English negates by putting not after the verb, so "I know not" means I do not know. The construction sounds emphatic to a modern ear but was ordinary. Treating it as emphatic imports a feeling the writer did not place there.
In practice
I know not means I do not know.
Where people slip
Ordinary then, emphatic-sounding now.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it