Negatives and Their Role in People’s Discourse
Negatives and Their Role in People’s Discourse

Summary/Abstract: Correct and creative use of negatives is necessary for building English communication skills. During interactions or writing, we can use them to express negation, contradiction, and opposition, but not only. They are often used to deny something, to refuse something, to offer advice, as well as to show disappointment, disapproval, or disagreement. However, they are also chosen to convey the opposite of a situation or an idea which means that they are not always intended to point out rejection of some kind, but on the contrary, to draw attention to some danger or lack of it, to emphasize a scenario and even to instil hope. From bringing forward a range of emotions to creating some rhetorical effects and to underlying meanings, negatives are an essential part of the English language, and they help to enrich people’s discourse. In addition to expressing negative thoughts with the help of negatives, we can express them through positive structures as well. This is a strategy which is often meant as an indirect, polite approach to various situations, being most of the time part of constructive feedback.

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