أَزَيْدًا ضَرَبْتَ أَمْ عَمْرًا
Did you strike Zayd or ʿAmr?
A structure that offers Zayd versus ʿAmr can presuppose the act of striking and seek identification of its object. The mere presence of alternative names does not entail denial of the underlying action.
By contrast, denial of the act itself rejects the predication. The commentary notes that repudiating all relevant relations may imply that the act never occurred, since an act must involve some participant or complement; an implication should nevertheless be distinguished from what is directly placed under denial.