> 彼ら は 自分 の 事 しか 考えて いません。

The translation of this sentence from my learning materials is apparently
"They only think of themselves."

Now it all makes sense to me until the ません at the end. To my mind it negates
the entire sentence. So it means that they DON'T only think for themselves.
However, obviously that isn't the case.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-19T23:29:04.970
73155
2022-01-27T04:48:11.420
2022-01-27T04:48:11.420
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question
grammar negation polarity-items particle-しか
Does ません sometimes not negate?
> 「彼{かれ}ら は 自分{じぶん} の 事{こと} **しか** 考{かんが}えて い **ません** 。」

While the translation:

> "They only think of themselves."

is a valid one in the sense that it successfully conveys the basic meaning of
the original, it can also be highly misleading as far as the grammatical
understanding of the original.

The original Japanese sentence is indeed in the **negative** form even though
the English translation I just called 'valid' is clearly in the
**affirmative** form.

The key word is 「しか」, which is always used in conjunction with a negative verb
phrase.

> 「Noun + しか + Verb in Negative Form (Verb + ない/ません, etc.)」

Literally means:

> "to not [Verb] anything but [Noun]"

Therefore,

> 「自分のことしか考えていません」

literally means:

> " ** _not_** thinking about anything except for themselves"

which in turn means:

> "to only think about themselves"

The less wordy translations, therefore, tend to be used more commonly over
time.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-20T00:43:32.083
73157
2019-11-20T00:43:32.083
73155
answer