1

Which one of these sounds correct (American English)? Is there a better way of saying this?

  1. I was not sober enough for you not to notice I'd been drinking.
  2. I was not sober enough for you to not notice I'd been drinking.
Laurel
  • 66,382
I love RDJ
  • 21
  • 1
  • It actually does... thank you. Both "not to" and "to not" are acceptable these days, I get it. Now I wonder if this sentence sounds natural – I love RDJ Jun 02 '20 at 17:18
  • 1
    @IloveRDJ The double negative makes it a little convoluted. How about "I was too inebriated for you not to notice..." or "I wasn't sober enough to hide that I'd been drinking..." or "From my behavior, you must've known I'd had a few too many." – AffableAmbler Jun 02 '20 at 18:15
  • Thanks guys. I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. – I love RDJ Jun 02 '20 at 20:20
  • I think you should think about the circularity of the idea itself as you express. You are trying to say that “I’d drunk too much for it not to be obvious to you.”. This is a much simpler way of putting it. – Tuffy Jun 02 '20 at 22:31
  • Is your audience over 40? – phoog Jun 03 '20 at 03:09
  • @phoog there's no audience, it's just my curiosity begging to be satisfied :) being a non-native english speaker sucks... sometimes you find yourself looking at a sentence, you know it's correct from a grammatical and lexical point of view but does it sound natural? – I love RDJ Jun 05 '20 at 20:01
  • @Tuffy it truly is a better and simpler way of saying that. Thanks a lot! – I love RDJ Jun 05 '20 at 20:04
  • @IloveRDJ You’re most welcome. – Tuffy Jun 05 '20 at 20:05
  • @JasonBassford the practical value of your suggestion can't be overstated. Thanks! – I love RDJ Jun 05 '20 at 20:05

0 Answers0