I am afraid not
“And what happened to Captain Webb? Did he live to an old age, so that he could tell his grandchildren all about his great swim to France? I am afraid not.”
I am afraid (that he could) not (tell his grandchildren all about his great swim to France).
‘I am afraid not’ is often a polite form of our refusal or our non-agreement.
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“Could you tell about the meaning of the phrase ‘I am afraid not’?”
“I am afraid not.”
+++++++
“What is the difference between ignorance and apathy?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care.”
It’s almost like saying you’re afraid to tell them a negative answer. You’re afraid to say no is the case. You’re afraid to say no, you don’t want to disappoint them, but you’re going to.
Examples…
“Are you open today?” - “I’m afraid not.”
“Can you cover me at work today as I have a dentist appointment…” - “Im afraid not”
Alternatively, you can say: “I’m afraid I can’t”
“I checked our lottery numbers today, do you think we won? I’m afraid to say we didn’t.”
Or simply: “I’m afraid we didn’t”
You can start with “sorry” if it’s a negative answer to a question, so: “Sorry, I’m afraid not.”
You can also flip it around and say: “I’m afraid so.”
Basically, if it’s an answer that the other person isn’t going to like.
“Did I miss the train?” - “I’m afraid so.”
Or simply… “afraid so.” Again, you can use “sorry” with this but it usually goes at the end with “afraid so.”
“I’m afraid so, sorry.”
It’s kind of a way of breaking the bad news a little more gently than a simple “yes” or “no.” Which can sometimes sound harsh in certain circumstances.
Thank you for your reply. However, the word “afraid” indicates fear. Why should one use this word which expresses fear instead, can’t we say “I am sorry we are not open today”
it’s just what we say. If you think about it, you don’t want to upset the other person, you know that you’re not going to give them the answer they’re hoping for, therefore, you might have some “fear” that they won’t react well to what you say.
You can absolutely say “I’m sorry, we’re not open today.” But “I’m sorry, I’m afraid we’re not open today” is just another way of saying it. Even though you used the word “sorry” in your sentence, it doesn’t mean you can’t reaffirm the sorrow by using “afraid.” Both mean the same thing and there is negligible difference between the two sentences.
“I am AFRAID that he could NOT tell his grandchildren all about his great swim to France.”
In the case of the sentence you quoted, “afraid” does not denote any sense of “fear”.
“I am afraid” is not much different from “I suppose”. If Captain Webb had lived to an old age, he could have told his grandchildren all about his great swim to France. The writer “supposes” that Captain Webb did NOT live to an old age.
Hi Yutaka
Your English seems quite good but that’s not really correct. “I’m afraid not” is a shortened version of “I’m afraid to say” he’s not supposing anything, he’s breaking bad news, he’s afraid to be the bearer of bad/sad news.
The narrator knows what happened to the captain, he’s just teasing to reveal the answer, he’s almost saying: “do you (the reader) think the captain is still around? Well, the answer (I’m afraid to say) is no, he’s not.”
Hope that helps.
Just checked my COD and there “I’m afraid not” is defined as “I have to admit with regret”. Hope that helps.
“I am afraid not.”
The writer supposes something, and he says it is not true. “Not” is related to the “truth value” of the statement he supposed or said; it does not modify the expression “be afraid”. “I am afraid not” is different from “I am not afraid”. Therefore, I imagine that there is some pause between “afraid” and “not”. The writer supposes, or rather, IMAGINES that the captain did NOT live to an old age. I must add that, of course, it is possible that the writer is really AFRAID to tell you the truth.
The phrase “I’m afraid not” is a shortened version of “I’m afraid to say/to tell you.”. It can be further shortened to “afraid not.”
“I am afraid” is not much different from “I suppose”.
I’m afraid is totally different to “I suppose.” If you’re supposing then you’re guessing. He’s telling and he’s doing so with regret, therefore he’s afraid to tell.
That’s all you really need to know.
My point is that if the expression is a shortened version of something, you can reconstruct the original or longer version by using the word “not”.
I think that the following sentences are the original or unabridged versions:
“I am AFRAID (that he could) NOT (tell his grandchildren all about his great swim to France).”
“I am AFRAID (that Captain Webb did) NOT (live to an old age).”
P.S.
“I am afraid so” and “I am afraid not” are different, and the difference is simply the “truth value” of the supposed statement.
Thank you for your comments, Hellion.
I have to admit with regret that I do “not” agree with his explanation.
(I think I do not agree with his explanation.)
Both “I’m afraid not” and “I’m afraid so” have fear. He’s telling the subject that he has fear that either the “not” or “so” is an answer that he’s scared to tell.
Now, he may or may not have genuine fear, in all likelihood he doesn’t, he’s just being polite about it by using the word “afraid.” You can replace both with “regrettably, no” or “regrettably, yes” respectively.
“I’m afraid so and I’m afraid not are different.”
^^^^^ Thank you for pointing that out to me, I’ve wondered about that over the last 34 years as a native speaker. If you’d like to lecture other natives about the basics of their language be sure to invite them in here.
By the way, it is 100℅ a shortened version of “I’m afraid TO SAY/TELL YOU” it you choose not to be believe that then that’s up to you. However, you can come up with as many sentences as you wish using “I’m afraid not” or “I’m afraid so” and I guarantee you that it will make perfect sense if you add “to tell you” or “to say” after the word “afraid.”
Good luck
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I am afraid (to say) that something is not something. —> I am afraid not.
I am afraid (to say) that something is something —> I am afraid so.
I agree with these explanations.
You can add “to say” after the word “afraid”. But a certain statement should be put even after “to say” in order to “reconstruct” a full sentence.
With a bit of word magic you can have a full sentence without any additional statement. It all rests on stress. “He died a horrible death, I’m afraid to say.”, as in “and what happened to him?” “Well, he died a horrible death, I’m afraid to say.”
Edited.
Not when there has been a statement or a question beforehand, as then it’s referring to said question/statement.
Anyway, I don’t want this to get out of hand. I think the original post has his answer now, and then some, so all’s well that ends well.
Okay, I got it. Thank you!
“He died a horrible death, I’m afraid to say.”
“I’m afraid to say (that) he died a horrible death.”
I think the latter is less colloquial and conveys the same message.
Thank you for your comment, SanneT.