Negative sentences

[hirashin]

Dear native English speakers,

Would you check my sentences including negative words?

(a)Nobody can swim as fast as Tom.
ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ
(b)No adults can see fairies.
ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ
(c)None of the students can speak Japanese.
ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ
(d)I hardly know where and how you live.
ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ
(e)Few people visit the old temple.
ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ
(g)Japanese people know little about this country.
ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ
(h)Hellen Keller said, "I seldom think about my limitations.ﾂ"
ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ ﾂ
(i)Nothing is as important as peace.


(1a) The seldom come here. (1b) They rarely come here.

(2) Nobody can stop him.

(3) I can hardly wait.

(4) We hardly know about you.

(5) I will never go to the country again.

(6) Few Japanese can speak Polish fluently.

(7) Japanese seldom(/rarely) think about wars.

(8) I hardly know where they are from.


Thanks in advance.

Hirashin

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Nothing really wrong with any of them. I might change "nobody" to "no one" , but not a major issue.

Uncle Frank

 

[Trond]

(5) I will never go to the country again.

(the) -> (that)

I think it would be better if the was changed to the word that.

 

[eeky]

Also there is a typo in (1a), which should read "They seldom come here."

To me, "We hardly know about you" seems a bit unusual (though not wrong). "We hardly know you" or "We hardly know anything about you" seems more likely.

I am not personally a huge fan of using "Japanese" to mean "Japanese people". I would say "Few Japanese people can speak Polish fluently" and "The Japanese seldom(/rarely) think about wars." Also, in the last case it is possible you mean "think about war" rather than "wars".

 

[Mike Cash]

(5) I will never go to the country again.

(the) -> (that)

I think it would be better if the was changed to the word that.

That depends entirely upon which meaning of "country" is intended. It is impossible to say for certain based only on that sentence in isolation.

 

[hirashin]

Thank you for your help, Frank, Trond, eeky, and Mike.

eeky wrote:
>Also there is a typo in (1a), which should read "They seldom come here."

Yes. You are right.

eeky wrote:
>Also, in the last case it is possible you mean "think about war" rather than "wars".

Would "think about wars" sound strange?

I have further questions.

Does (g2) have the same meaning as (g)?
(g)Japanese people know little about this country.
(g2) Japanese people hardly know about this country.

Can you put "hardly" before "can"?
(3-A) I hardly can wait.

Is (7-A) also correct?
(7-A) Japanese people hardly think about war(s).

Hirashin

 

[eeky]

eeky wrote:
>Also, in the last case it is possible you mean "think about war" rather than "wars".
Would "think about wars" sound strange?

No, not strange, but "think about wars" means think about actual instances of war, while "think about war" means think about war in general, or about the concept of war. If you are talking about the general traits or characteristics of a nation then arguably the "war" version is more likely.

Does (g2) have the same meaning as (g)?
(g)Japanese people know little about this country.
(g2) Japanese people hardly know about this country.

Yes, the meaning is very similar. There is just a faint different in nuance.

Can you put "hardly" before "can"?
(3-A) I hardly can wait.

This is possible, but "I can hardly wait" is the usual word order.

Is (7-A) also correct?
(7-A) Japanese people hardly think about war(s).

Yes, that is also possible.

 

[ClarkH]

Your English is great, Hirashin. They're all well written and natural too!

 

[hirashin]

Thanks for your ongoing help, Clark. And thank you for your encouraging comment, too.

Hirashin