meaning - Do the following negations mean the same thing?



I don't think you understood me. / I think you misunderstood me.



Do these senteces mean the same thing? If not, what's the difference?


Edit: I just realized that I asked something different from what I originally wanted. So I am also interested in the following comparison:



I don't think you understand me. / I think you don't understand me.




Answer



Think is one of the verbs that govern the rule called Negative Raising.


Nothing actually gets raised, though. What this means is that the verb think is transparent to negation, because it doesn't really mean anything except to identify what you're thinking about.


Consequently
- X think (not Y)
is equivalent to
- X not think (Y)


Other predicates that govern Neg-Raising include believe, feel, appear, intend, expect, seem, and suppose. These are all verbs of mental state that take complements.


This is not true, however, with most verbs that take complements.
Neg-Raising is a minor governed rule, with relatively few verbs that govern it.



  • I said he didn't like it. ≠ I didn't say he liked it.

  • She tried not to smile. ≠ She didn't try to smile.


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