Can the adjective "absent" which has a negative meaning to it be used with the phrase "there is" or "there are" as, in their affirmative form, these are meant to assert the presence and not the absence of something or someone?
Then is it correct for a teacher checking out the attendance of their pupils to ask their class:
"Is any pupil/student absent/away today?".
To which the class would answer either:
"Yes miss, everyone's here today."
or "No miss, everyone's not here today."
Besides, is "Everyone's not here today." preferable to "No miss, not everyone is here today."?
How to Use the Adjective ‘Absent’?
adjectivesnegationphrase-request
Best Answer
Both sentences above are answers to the question
They are not proper answers to the question
To which, the appropriate answer would be
Honestly, I have never heard anyone answer the question "Is anyone absent today?" with "Yes miss, everyone is here today." I believe that would be quite strange.
It is like asking "How is everyone doing today?" and having students reply "Yes miss, no one is ill today." I suppose it could be used sarcastically.