A double negative - would it be acceptable in writing?

Question

I read other posts about the double negative, but I still would like to find out whether my sentence is OK in writing:

Breakfast was not served for no good reason.

Answer 1

Yes, the sentence is OK, but it might not mean what you expect. In standard, formal English, this sentence:

Breakfast was not served for no good reason.

is a denial of this sentence:

Breakfast was served for no good reason.

The first sentence implies that breakfast was served for a good reason—or, possibly, that breakfast was not served at all.

Standard English—the kind of English that people learn in school—is the main kind of English that we use in formal writing: reports, newspaper articles, essays, books, research papers, legal contracts, and most answers on StackExchange. This is writing that is meant to stand in some dependable, long-lasting way as a record, which can be clearly understood by anyone familiar with standard English. In standard English, a double negative means a denial of the first negative—and therefore implicitly affirms the original idea. Also in standard English, the phrase "for no good reason" is understood to modify only "served", not "Breakfast was not served".

In some informal spoken dialects of English, the double negative has a different meaning: it emphasizes a negation by repeating it. In those dialects, your example sentence would likely express exasperation that breakfast was not served, claiming that there was no good reason for failing to serve breakfast. If you are learning English for formal, international written communication, I recommend completely ignoring the various informal, regional dialects.

Standard alternatives to the double negative

In standard English, you can express the same exasperation by altering the sentence so that "for no good reason" applies to "Breakfast was not served" rather than just "served". The needed alteration can be very small, even just the addition of a comma or dash in the right place:

Breakfast was not served, for no good reason.

Breakfast was not served—for no good reason.

For no good reason, breakfast was not served.

There was no good reason for not serving breakfast.

Breakfast was not served, and there was no good reason for it.

Breakfast was not served, and there was no good reason for not serving it.

To prevent confusion, you can also reword the sentence so that it it only has one "not" or "no". This kind of rewording is what most copyeditors and professional writers would usually recommend:

For no good reason, the hotel failed to serve breakfast.

Breakfast went unserved for no good reason.

Another way to deny the negative in standard English

If you really want to deny that breakfast was served for no good reason, another way that you can write it is shown below. This way is less prone to confusion. (I've added some context.)

Tim asked, "Was breakfast served for no good reason?"

Mary said, "No. There was a good reason for serving breakfast: to infuriate the enthusiasts of intermittent fasting."

Tim said, "You consider that a good reason?"

The trick is to express the denial ("No.") first and separately, and then express the affirmation explicitly ("There was a good reason…").

Even simpler and clearer, of course, is just to omit both negations:

Breakfast was served for a good reason.

This is usually best, unless you have a good reason for emphasizing denial, as in the above dialogue.

Answer 2

no, it is not ok.

There's only one case where I'm ok with it: When you're using dialog that indicates it's a part of a character's speech. If you're using it, it's intentional and it's to give more insight into the background of a character, either real or fictional.

Answer 3

Breakfast was not served for no good reason.

It may mean break fast was served for a good reason.

It may mean breakfast was not served for any good reason

So it is better to avoid double negatives and say:

Breakfast was served for a good reason.

Your sentence is not at all acceptable in writing but it is understandable and heard in native English speaking countries. It may be ambiguous for some people.

Though double negatives are not acceptable in standard English,they are being used in certain dialects in native English speaking countries.However,it is not acceptable in writing.

Do you know anybody?

No.I do not know nobody?

I do not know nobody mathematically means I know somebody but linguistically it means I do not know anybody at least in the community where it is spoken.Language is different from mathematics.

Here is a link which shows the usage.

https://www.quora.com/Which-one-is-true-I-dont-need-anybody-or-I-dont-need-nobody