You know that the opposite of the sentence "I eat meat" is "I don't eat meat". However, what if you eat beef and chicken but not pork? Or if you want to emphasize that you eat zero kinds of meat? You can express these ideas using a few expressions:
- I don't eat every kind of meat. (= I eat some kinds of meat.)
- I don't eat any meat. (= I never eat meat. I don't eat meat at all)
Partial negation refers to negation that applies to some members of a category but not to other members. For instance in the sentence, "I don't eat every kind of meat", the category is "meat", so this sentence could mean "I do not eat pork, but I do eat beef and chicken."
To partially negate something, use 'not' with 'all'/ 'every'/variations of 'all' or 'every' (such as 'always', 'all the time', 'every day', 'every minute').
- I do not eat all kinds of meat. (= category: "kinds of meat". I eat some kinds of meat but not others)
- I do not eat every kind of meat.
- I do not always eat meat. (= category: time. I eat meat sometimes but not all the time)
- I do not eat meat every day. (= category: day. I eat meat some days but not all days)
- I do not eat meat at every meal. (= category: meal. I eat meat at lunch or dinner but not for breakfast)
Complete negation refers to negation that applies to all members of a category. For instance in the sentence, "I don't eat any meat", the category is "meat", so this sentence means "I do not eat pork, beef, chicken, veal, or other kinds of meat." To completely negate something, use '(do) not' with 'any/at all'.
- I do not eat any meat. (= I eat zero meat)
- I do not eat meat at all.
- I do not eat any meat at all.
- You can also use 'never':
- I never eat meat. (= I do not ever eat meat)
To completely negate a sentence with a plural noun, such as "My friends do not eat meat," you can use "none of [plural noun]":
- None of my friends eat meat.
To completely negate a sentence that has two options, use 'not' with 'either'. If someone asks, "Do you like chicken or beef?" you can say:
- I don't like either chicken or beef.
- I don't like either.
