Double Negative - Glossary of Terms
Double Negative
A double negative is usually produced by combining the negative form of verb
(e.g., cannot, did not, have not) with a negative pronoun (e.g.,
nothing,
nobody), a negative adverb (e.g., never, hardly) or a negative
conjunction
(e.g., neither/nor).
Examples:
 I didn't see
nothing.
I did not
have neither her address nor her phone number.
It wasn't uninteresting
She is not unattractive.
A double negative gives the sentence a positive sense. (e.g.,
"I didn't
see nothing" is similar in meaning to "I saw something.") A
double negative is not always an error. The latter two examples,
meaning "It was interesting." and "She is attractive.",
are fine.
Example:
I cannot say that I do not disagree with you.
(This brilliant quote by Groucho Marx can be considered a triple negative. If
you follow it through logically, you'll find it means "I disagree with
you".)
Interactive example:
|
She claims she has not seen
neither Paul nor John since May. [show
me the double
negative] |
|
|
Glossary of Grammatical Terms
