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# affirmative

«affirmative» in Mova's school dictionary: **saying "yes" or agreeing** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adjective (affirmative); noun (the affirmative)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Affirmative means saying "yes" or agreeing. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirmative/#m1)

2) In grammar, an affirmative sentence is a positive statement, not a negative one ("I like cats" not "I don't like cats"). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirmative/#m2)

3) "Affirmative!" (informal) is a way of saying yes, as in films with soldiers or pilots. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirmative/#m3)

4) Affirmative action (USA) means policies to help groups who have been treated unfairly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirmative/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In English grammar lessons it contrasts with negative sentences. In debates, the affirmative side argues for the motion. Phrases: in the affirmative, affirmative sentence, affirmative answer.

### examples

- "I can swim" is an affirmative sentence. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirmative/#x1)
- She answered in the affirmative: yes. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirmative/#x2)
- "Affirmative, captain!" [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirmative/#x3)
- The affirmative team spoke first in the debate. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirmative/#x4)
- Change the negative sentence into the affirmative. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirmative/#x5)
- He nodded, an affirmative sign. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirmative/#x6)
- She fancied she heard answers in the affirmative, and then again she wasn’t sure. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirmative/#x7)

### note

Opposite: negative. Formal; everyday word: yes, positive. Verb: affirm.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «affirmative» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/affirmative/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.