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Fire1 Posted 7 years ago
Grammar

Adverbs modify "not" in front of "not"

Can "so", "very", "quite", "much", "so much", and "very much" modify "not" in front of "not" as in "so not", "very not", "quite not", "much not", "so much not", and "very much not"?

  

Top answer

fire1 Can "so", "very", "quite", "much", "so much", and "very much" modify "not" in front of "not" as in "so not", "very not", "quite not", "much not", "so much not", and "very much not"? No, not in standard English. These kinds of structures occur only in very casual speech where the speaker almost certainly knows the pattern is wrong but uses it anyway as a mild joke.

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1 Answers
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fire1

Can "so", "very", "quite", "much", "so much", and "very much" modify "not" in front of "not" as in "so not", "very not", "quite not", "much not", "so much not", and "very much not"?

No, not in standard English. These kinds of structures occur only in very casual speech where the speaker almost certainly knows the pattern is wrong but uses it an