Head-Fi.org › Forums › Misc.-Category Forums › Members' Lounge (General Discussion) › Is it "how not to" OR "how to not"?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Is it "how not to" OR "how to not"?

post #1 of 7
12/18/11 at 5:08pm
Thread Starter 

re: #ProperAndTrueEnglishGrammar, not so-called American English.

 

Example:

 

Monty Python's Flying Circus has a skit about how not to be seen.

vs

Monty Python's Flying Circus has a skit about how to not be seen.

 

 

The latter makes more sense to me, although I feel that the most logical formatting would be "How to be not-seen" (How to be unseen)

 

You see this all over the place, and it bugs me that I don't know which is the true and proper usage.

 


Edited by Sduibek - 12/18/11 at 5:18pm
Reply
post #2 of 7
12/18/11 at 5:43pm

I would look at it like this:

 

How not to be seen... You are going to be seen, just don't be wearing a pink feather scarf.

 

How to not be seen... You are trying to be inconspicuous or invisible.

 

I'm an American though, so you many not agree, but for what it's worth, I don't think it's a grammatical thing, just what you are talking about. If you could provide more context for the Monty Python play, I could probably tell you how I'd read/write the sentence you used as an example.

Reply
post #3 of 7
12/18/11 at 5:53pm

 

context.

Reply
post #4 of 7
12/18/11 at 6:03pm

Not a native speaker, but I would say context too.

'How not to' is more direct; the tone suggests that you are ALREADY going to be seen as a consequence, and you are trying to rectify that.

'How to not' would suggest that you are not necessarily going to be seen.

 


Edited by Dissonant - 12/18/11 at 6:04pm
Reply
post #5 of 7
12/18/11 at 6:25pm
Thread Starter 

 

Quote:
context

 

Hm. I thought that would be a fun example but I was not referencing context whatsoever, so maybe that was a mistake on my part. This can be seen in many other situations:

 

I was happy that he chose not to run for Student Body President this year.

I was happy that he chose to not run for Student Body President this year.

 

She taught me how to not fall down the stairs.

She taught me how not to fall down the stairs.

 

I'm sorry mom, I don't know how to not shout when I die playing World Of Warcraft.

I'm sorry mom, I don't know how not to shout when I die playing World Of Warcraft.

 

 

 

EDIT: Oh, sorry somehow I only saw the post with the video. Thank you


Edited by Sduibek - 12/18/11 at 6:30pm
Reply
post #6 of 7
12/18/11 at 9:58pm

"How not to" sounds fancier so I use that.

Reply
post #7 of 7
12/18/11 at 11:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sduibek View Post

 

 

Hm. I thought that would be a fun example but I was not referencing context whatsoever, so maybe that was a mistake on my part. This can be seen in many other situations:

 

I was happy that he chose not to run for Student Body President this year.

I was happy that he chose to not run for Student Body President this year.

 

She taught me how to not fall down the stairs.

She taught me how not to fall down the stairs.

 

I'm sorry mom, I don't know how to not shout when I die playing World Of Warcraft.

I'm sorry mom, I don't know how not to shout when I die playing World Of Warcraft.

 

 

 

EDIT: Oh, sorry somehow I only saw the post with the video. Thank you


"not to run for president": He's not running for president, but perhaps some other position.

"to not run for president": He's not running for president.

 

"how to not fall": Ok, now I'm not going to fall down those stairs.

"hot not to fall": Ok, now I'll make sure I fall the correct way.

 

"how to not shout": I can't stop shouting.

"how not to shout": I'll shout the right way next time, sorry mom!

 

It still seems to me that the sentences imply or mean different things.

 

Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
Head-Fi.org › Forums › Misc.-Category Forums › Members' Lounge (General Discussion) › Is it "how not to" OR "how to not"?