Questions tagged [multiple-negation]
For questions about sentences that have multiple grammatical or semantic negations. For questions about sentences that have a single semantic negation expressed multiple times, use the negative-concord tag.
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"No nothing" does not make sense
I could never make sense out of the largely informal phrase, "no nothing". Minus minus equals plus. So literally, "no nothing" comes to mean "something" or "anything". But it is almost always used in ...
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Double negation using 2 verbs
I am studying English for quite awhile and always have heard about double negation
Is this correct
I will not regret not marrying you
Or is considered a double negative
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One negation used in one sentence with conjunction or two different clauses
I have a question with respect to English interpretation based on strict grammar rules not on context.
How would you interpret the following sentence: [The contract would not cancel and survive]?
...
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"Not too busy to not" or "not too busy not to"
I'm not too busy to eat dinner
or
I'm not too busy not to eat dinner
Typically, you would need a double negative ("I'm not busy enough to not realized I skipped dinner," in that you weren't ...
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2
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In a sentence with double negatives, how do I tell if I'm allowed to cancel them out or not?
Asking this because I'm worried that canceling out double negatives can completely change the original meaning of the sentence. I know context and the speaker/writer's intent are also important but is ...
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·What does the second sentence in this paragraph mean?
"If people had invested their money in antiques 20 years ago, they would have found it difficult to make a profit on their investment until very recently. So people who cannot afford for their ...
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Rephrasing a sentence with negation and "except"
I don't look as if I have done anything except study in the last three years.
I guess its meaning is two fold
In fact, there is only one thing that have been done which is "study in the last ...
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Usage of "any more than"
I came across this sentence:
Kids don't like to be patronized, any more than adults do.
and wondered if I can also say it this way, and still convey the same meaning, (that none of them likes to be ...
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1
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Double negation in "... I don't/ain't have no [something] ..."
Would I say that I DON'T have any regrets with ...
No, I don't have no regrets
... or would it mean that I have at least some because of the double negation? I think I often saw something like that ...
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How can double negatives “has a respectable history as a rhetorical device for emphasis” when they're harder to understand?
These two quotes contradict. I hate multiple negatives! Waste of effort, time, space, words! I have to stop reading and spend like 15 mins. reasoning to the positive meaning!
But how can double ...
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Need help understanding the meaning of the following sentence [closed]
Unless neither John nor Harry eat the pancake, Andrew must eat it.
Can someone help me understand the above sentence's meaning?
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Two "not"s in one sentence
“Universal history. The history of what man has accomplished" in this world, is at bottom the History of the Great Men who have worked here," wrote the Victorian sage Thomas Carlyle. Well, ...
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To use "don't" and "no" in one sentence to make it negative
In the intro of TMNT the song goes like this:
When the evil Shredder attacks, these Turtle boys don't cut him no slack!
As what I have searched "cut someone some slack" means: to treat (...
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"I don't promise anything / nothing / something / everything" - Difference?
If I want to say someone that I don't premise him about that, it says, I want to give him nothing about permission. what's out of the following four is the correct?
For example:
a) I think I'll ...
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Until + lack of something
Long-time listener, first-time caller.
I have a bit of a problem sorting out my sentence and I can't find anything definitive online, so I thought I'd try my luck here.
Which of these two is correct?
...
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Is this a double negation: "doesn't exist for neither X nor Y"
I'm having doubts about how to best put this in English, I'm torn between 3 options. Which of them are legal, and which is stylistically the best?
I want to convey that a solution does not exist for A ...
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Meaning of "The attack was not unforeseen."
What does the double negative in the below sentence mean?
The attack was not unforeseen.
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1
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Can anyone explain what the first part of this sentence means, in simple way?
The sentence is
She was criticized by her fellow lawyers not because she was not
hardworking, but because she so minutely prepared her cases that she
failed to bring the expected number to trial
...
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Which of no, none, any, some would fit in "few of the students knew ___ of the answers"?
A friend of mine recently had a test during one of her English classes and there was a task to choose the correct word that best fits the sentence: "Few of the students knew ___ of the answers&...
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Triple negation: What does "This ain't no place for no hero" mean?
What does "This ain't no place for no hero" mean? It's a phrase from the song "Short Change Hero", and while I think I understand it (This is not a place for people who are not ...
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Can no doubt be used with another negative word
I have read many examples of the phrase "no doubt". And I have observed that when this phrase is used other negative words like "never, not, nothing" are not used in the sentence ...
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What does "there ain't no one for to give you no pain" mean?
This morning on the radio, I heard America's hit "A Horse with No Name". As usual when I hear it, I wonder what the following sentence mean.
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain
...
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Double negative
"He committed the crime on NO account." You don't need "not" in this sentence because of "on No account".
But what about this: "You should not sign the contract on ...
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What does "We don't need no education" mean?
I am an english learner.
I general ( or may be I am wrong ) we use:
any in both negative and positive sentences. for example: I don't need any education
no in positive phrases ( may be I am wrong ). ...
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“Yes, I did not" vs “No, I did not“
Whenever an old post is edited on a Stack Exchange site, the entire page is bumped to the top of the active page. Some eagle-eyed users might spot other spelling, formatting or grammatical issues on ...
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"Didn't have no" or "didn't have any"?
I have a question about whether "I didn't have no plans" is correct or not, since I think that it's a double negation and therefore not correct, so it should be "I didn't have any plans&...
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Which one is correct? Double negatives
Which one is correct?
1. I cannot do not eat for 5 days straight
2. I cannot not eat for 5 days straight
3. I cannot not to eat for 5 days straight
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3
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Can "nor" follow a positive phrase?
A Guardian article, entitled "What are the Conservatives conserving?", includes the following sentence:
Alas, we have seen nor heard nothing for a month from test-and-trace mastermind Dido ...
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it isn't impossible for me to be swindled by anyone
a. It isn't impossible for me to be swindled by anyone.
b. It is possible for me to be swindled by anyone.
I think the meaning of (b) is clear. It seems to be saying that anyone can swindle me.
...
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Why is, "If I don't use the microphone, nobody will hear me," not considered a double negative
I understand that you can't have a double negative...but also, 'anyone/anybody' in this sentence wouldn't make sense:
If I don't use the microphone, nobody will hear me
So why is this not considered ...
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Why were some English phrases written in double negatives when the speaker actually wants to express a single negative? [duplicate]
For example, I just saw this phrase on social media:
The way 2020 going, I ain't buyin' no PS5.
I mean, in this instance, I can ultimately see that what the poster actually mean is that "I ain'...
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How to answer a negative question in English?
Q: "Don't you know?"
If I really don't know, how should I respond to this question? Yes or No?
There's a similar question on EL&U, but the answer isn't clear how it works:
A confusion about ...
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3
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Two questions about double negation expressions
Double negation expressions like the below ones are confusing to me, but in reality similar sentences are ubiquitous.
I don't dislike the police.
It's not uncommon for parents to know the gender of ...
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Use of "Not getting"
I often come across a sentence in spoken English (and sometimes in written English as well) that I think is grammatically incorrect. The sentence is
It's never a bad idea not getting advice from ...
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Healthy vs. average
A sample IELTS question in the reading section concerns a passage about how dentistry has improved over the last few centuries. The passage includes:
Modern dentistry was in its infancy for most ...
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I will call somebody else, not neither him nor you
I have a sentence
I will call neither you nor him
I guess it means
I won't call neither you nor him
Out of it it's not clear whether I will call anyone at all but I want to say that I will call but ...
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0
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"Don't you not like eating fat?" – Is it correct?
My friend had told me he didn't like eating fat. Yesterday he was relishing some pork belly with a lot of fat, so I asked,
"Don't you not like eating fat?"
He's a native speaker and I'm not. He ...
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The implication of double negation in "you’re not listening to a word I’m not saying"
So I'm facing the said sentence in the following quote:
Dear cat, your ears are flipped inside out, so I know you’re not
listening to a word I’m not saying.
So I'm wondering whether the double ...
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Is this grammatically correct? : Something is not A nor A', neither B nor B'
'To love is not demanding nor taking advantage needless to say, neither is it giving up nor sacrifice.'
Is this sentence correct?
Is there any room for improvement?
How about the following ...
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What is this actually saying? Written sentence: “This is not a story about wine, well not totally.”
What is this actually saying? Written sentence: “This is not a story about wine, well not totally.” The writer means "There's more to this story than just wine." It's a voiceover attempting to be ...
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Negation of a Negative Statement
My understanding that negating a negation is proof.
like:
They are not uncooperative = They are cooperative.
I understand that the use of the negative statement could slightly change the meaning ...
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"I see nothing " vs "I don't see nothing"
As far as I understand, both of these sentences imply that the speaker is unable to see anything.
Is one sentence more correct than the other or can they be used interchangeably everywhere?
Also, ...
J.R.♦
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A double negative - would it be acceptable in writing?
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.
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Are double negatives like 'he's never not been in the family' grammatically correct? [duplicate]
I'm asking this question because I was taught not to use double negatives, because they are ungrammatical and that people who use them sound uneducated. However, today here on this site I found an ...
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Is "I do not want you to go nowhere" a case of "DOUBLE-NEGATIVES" as claimed by Grammarly?
I do not want you to go nowhere.
According to Grammarly, the above sentence contains a DOUBLE-NEGATIVE and should be modified as either of the following;
I do not want you to go anywhere.
I want you ...
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Can a double negative be OK?
There is no job I cannot do.
We are taught to avoid double negatives, and most of them sound really weird:
That won't do you no good.
She never goes with nobody.
The example above these,...
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How to avoid multiple negatives in sentence [closed]
I have written few lines, but I feel those could be more better in English, even I am not sure about grammatical mistakes. Please correct my below sentences
"But that didn't go well as I didn't ...
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We haven't done this in a while, haven't we?
We haven't done this in a while, haven't we?
I am aware that this is a double negative, and technically it should be "have we?" at the end of the sentence.
However, is the question grammatically ...
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I don't want neither Vs. I want neither
If I don't want a paper or a pen. What's the right way to say it out of these two choices?
I do not want neither a paper nor a pen.
or
I want neither a paper nor a pen.
I believe that do ...
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"Had not seen anyone" or "had not seen nobody"?
I am a research paper writer with more than 3 years of experience. In a recent story of mine, I have the sentence:
The girl had not seen anyone while she was walking a long and dark street.
Then, ...
SenPerfect12