- Sat Oct 05, 2024 7:50 pm
#109504
I like to think of negation this way, LanceAJ: the negation of an answer choice is just another way of saying "this statement is not true." However you go about negating an answer choice when testing your contenders, as long as your chosen negation makes the answer false, you've done an okay job. That said, here are a couple examples showing more than one way to negate a statement:
Statement: These are the best options available
Negation 1: These are not the best options available
Negation 2: There's a better option available than these
Statement: Whenever I go hiking, I bring a poncho and a water bottle
Negation 1: Sometimes I go hiking without a poncho, or without a water bottle, or with neither
Negation 2: I don't always bring a poncho and water bottle when I go hiking
Negation 3: It's not true that whenever I go hiking I bring a poncho and a water bottle
Statement: Anchovy pizza is better than pepperoni pizza
Negation 1: Anchovy pizza is not better than pepperoni pizza
Negation 2: Pepperoni is at least as good as anchovy pizza
Statement: Only if the sky is blue can the sun shine brightly
Negation 1: The sun can shine brightly even if the sky is not blue
Negation 2: It's not only when the sky is blue that the sun can shine brightly
Negation 3: When the sun shines brightly, the sky doesn't have to be blue
As you can see, there are a lot of ways to negate an answer choice! The point is, the negation means that the answer as written was not true.
And beware of traps! Consider this statement: Some of the people working here are underpaid.
You cannot negate this by saying that some of the people working here are not underpaid, because that doesn't mean the first statement is false! It's possible that some are underpaid while others are not. To negate that "some" statement, you have to completely deny it by saying that NONE of the people working here are underpaid.
In short, negation just means that you need to make the answer false. An answer says that X is true? You say no, it's not true. When you're really confused about how to negate a confusing answer choice, start by just denying it, and see where that takes you.
Good luck, have fun with it!
Adam M. Tyson
PowerScore LSAT, GRE, ACT and SAT Instructor
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https://twitter.com/LSATadam