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I will not talk to anybody.

or

I will talk to nobody.

I think both of them are valid (no double negation).

My questions are:

  1. Is one of the two sentences stronger? I.e., does one of the two sentences puts more weight on the fact that one should really not talk to anybody?

  2. Is there a regional difference in using the two sentences? And if yes, who would prefer which?

tchrist
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user3445587
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    Related to and possibly even duplicates, in no particular order: https://english.stackexchange.com/a/66274 https://english.stackexchange.com/a/372652 https://english.stackexchange.com/a/162653 https://english.stackexchange.com/a/157029 https://english.stackexchange.com/a/187263 https://english.stackexchange.com/a/140052 https://english.stackexchange.com/a/117681 https://english.stackexchange.com/a/77905 – tchrist Aug 19 '18 at 15:34
  • I agree that those are related and thanks for these links! I went through those and they helped a lot. I think that there are only minor differences between the two sentences, if there is any at all. But what I am missing in all of those links is the following: What would a native speaker say? Does it depend on the situation, and if yes, how? Or why would you decide to use one or the other? – user3445587 Aug 19 '18 at 18:55

1 Answers1

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Yes, one statement has strength over other. But it will depend on situation too. If you are angry, and you said 'I will not talk to anybody' is powerful than 'I will talk to nobody' . Again it is just showing affirmative and negation. I can't say any about regional differences but they definitely depend on situation.

Nikhil Jagtap
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