Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Jerry Chen]

Hello,

Could you please help me with the sentences?

1. As the sentence says, "His parents didn't let him go out with his
friends."

Is it OK to say, "His parents let him not go out with his friends"?

2. Which is OK?

(a) I care about not you but him.
(b) I don't care about you but care about him.
(c) I care not about you but about him.

Thanks for your help!!

[vernongstamm]

The correct form is: "His parents didn't let him go out with his
friends." This states his parents did not let him go ___________
The other way, the negative form is in the wrong part of the sentence. By putting 'let him' and then 'not' it basically states this. Fist his parents 'let him' and then said no, you can't go.

In your second example; I don't care about you but care about him. This is most grammatically correct form. However, it would be a bit more correct by saying: I don't care about you, but do care about him. "Do" in this case puts a bit more emphasis on the party he cares about.

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