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"things that you might not have noticed or forgotten"- does the 'not have' modify the 'forgotten'?

 
 
JackTK
 
Reply Sat 23 Aug, 2014 05:28 pm
I wanted to ask about the correct grammar for this sentence: "There are things that you might not have noticed or forgotten." Does the "not have" modify the word "forgotten"? So should it be interpreted as "There are things you might not have noticed or not have forgotten."?

Obviously in the context that sentence sounds weird, but say instead of "forgotten" the verb was "seen". Then you have the sentence "There are things you might not have noticed or seen." which sounds like the "not have" is supposed to modify BOTH verbs. So does the "not have" modify just the word "noticed" or does it also cover "forgotten"? Thanks.
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Type: Question • Score: 1 • Views: 671 • Replies: 2

 
InfraBlue
 
  3  
Reply Sat 23 Aug, 2014 11:19 pm
The sentence is ambiguous written that way.

It seems that it means to say, " There are things that you might not have noticed, or have forgotten."

contrex
 
  2  
Reply Sun 24 Aug, 2014 04:02 am
@InfraBlue,
You could substitute 'might have overlooked' for 'might not have noticed', which would mean you don't have a negative 'not' action followed by a positive action, and you could then use 'or' to combine the action, thus removing the ambiguity: 'things that you might have overlooked or forgotten'. Most negative forms have a positive form counterpart - a few examples:

did not do (something) - omitted to do (something), missed out doing (something) etc
did not remember (something) - forgot something
did not have (something) - lacked (something)
did not know something - was ignorant of (something)
could not do (something) - was incapable of doing (something)




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