How to Use TO NOT and NOT TO? Basic English Grammar | Ask Alisha

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Episode 20, start.

Hi, everybody.

Welcome back to Ask Alisha, the weekly series where you ask me questions and I answer them,

maybe.

First question this week comes from Dave.

Hi, Dave.

“Some people use ‘lol’ on the internet.

What does it mean?”

Yeah, ‘lol’ can mean laugh out loud or lots of laughs.

I've heard both.

But, either way, we use this expression to quickly explain we thought something was funny,

“lol.”

Next question comes from Havel.

Hi, Havel.

Havel says, “Hey, Alisha.

Please tell us about the difference between ‘to not’ and ‘not to’ As in, ‘I

want to not’ and ‘I want not,’ for example.”

Uh, yeah.

So, with these, there's not really a difference between these.

Like, “I want not to” and “I want to not do something.”

Both of these are casual ways of explaining a negative in speech.

The correct sentence would be, “I don't want to do something,” but native speakers

sometimes like to kind of play with grammar a little bit, that's one reason they might

use this pattern, either of these patterns really.

Also, sometimes we start a sentence and we make it positive like, “I want to…”

and then, we realize part of the way into the sentence, “Oh, wait.

I want to express something negative.”

So, we change it to “to not” or “not to” So, “I want not to blah, blah, blah,”

or “I want to not blah, blah, blah.”

Both are okay but just keep in mind that we use that “I want not to” or “I want

to not blah, blah, blah,” in casual situations.

We don't generally use these in formal situations.

Instead, we use, “I don't want to blah, blah, blah.”

“I want to not get in trouble,” “I want not to get in trouble.”

The correct sentence here would be “I don't want to get in trouble.”

But, you'll hear native speakers do this for a number of reasons so there's not really

a difference between these two.

But, you will hear both of those used by native speakers.

I hope that helps.

Thanks for the question.

Next question comes from Sagrid Karakilar.

I am sorry.

“Hi, Alisha.

Can I use ‘though’ instead of ‘nevertheless?’

It looks as if their meanings are the same.”

Thank you.

This is a great question.

“Though” and “nevertheless,” yes, while they do have similar meanings sometimes,

they have different grammatical functions.

So, “nevertheless” means in spite of the thing that was said before or despite the

prior thing.

“Nevertheless” is used only as an adverb.

“Though,” however, can be used as an adverb, yes, but it can also be used as a conjunction.

“Though” can also mean “nevertheless” or “in spite of,” however, it also sometimes

just has the meaning of “but.”

“Though I almost ran out of time, I finished the test with a perfect score.”

“He told me he would call at 8:00.

Though, it's 8:15 and I haven't heard from him.”

“I almost ran out of time.

Nevertheless, I finished the test with a perfect score.”

“Her proposal was rejected.

Nevertheless, she continued with her research.”

Hope that that helps answer your question, though.

Thanks for the question.

Awesome one.

Next question comes from Marcus Cordia.

Hi, Marcos.

Marcos says, “Alisha, help!”

Well, here it comes.

“Do the words ‘weather’ and ‘whether’ have the same pronunciation?

And, does ‘whether’ have the same sense of ‘if?’

Could you use it in some examples?

Please, reply.”

Yes, you're correct.

Thanks, Marcos.

“Weather,” as in like clouds, sunlight, rain, snow, wind.

“Weather” and “whether,” W-H-E-T-H-E-R, they have the same pronunciation, yes.

And the W-H form does contain the meaning of “if,” as in, “whether or not something.”

So, native speakers will often say, “Whether or not” but we can reduce this to “if.”

Some examples, “He hasn't decided whether or not he's coming to dinner.”

“I don't know whether or not I'm going to travel this summer.”

“Do you know whether or not your parents are at home?”

In each of these sentences, we could change “whether or not” to “if.”

I hope that that answers your question, Marcos.

Thanks.

Next question!

Next question comes from Kisavah.

Hi, again.

Kisavah says, “What's the difference between ‘bored with’ and ‘bored by?’”

Great question.

There's no difference, actually.

“Bored with” and “bored by,” also, we use “bored of.”

These are all used in the same way to explain something that causes us to feel bored.

“I'm so bored by this lesson.”

“I'm so bored with this textbook.”

“I'm so bored of you.”

So, we can use all of these in the same way.

You might find that some people have personal preferences for which one they choose to use,

but we use them all in the same way.

Nice question though.

Next question comes from Paul.

Hi, Paul.

“’Let me ask a question’ or ‘Lemme ask a question,’ which is the correct sentence?”

Both of these are actually correct.

“Lemme” is the reduced form of “let me.”

We use this in more casual situations.

“Let me ask a question,” is fine too.

It just sounds more formal.

And, when we reduce the sounds, actually, it sounds a little more natural.

So, “Let me ask you a question,” “Lemme ask you a question,” that's fine to use

in speech.

In writing, however, L-E-M-M-E looks very casual so we typically don't use that in formal

writing.

But, both of them are actually correct.

Okay, so, those are all the questions that I want to answer for this week.

Thank you so much for sending your questions, as always.

Remember, you can send your questions to me at EnglishClass101.com/ask-alisha.

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Thanks very much for watching this episode of Ask Alisha and I will see you again next week.

Bye.