Examples of Double Negatives What about a Triple Negative? Why Double Negatives Are Important (Reason 1) A double negative is usually a mistake. (Reason 2) A double negative can provide a touch of diplomacy or
"The prohibition ondouble negativesmay have begun with Robert Lowth, an 18th century Bishop of London, who wroteA Short Introduction to English Grammar. In it he stated that 'two Negatives in English destroy one another, or are equivalent to an affirmative.' Perhaps his high status as a bish...
One of the most common mistakes in English is the use of double negatives. While double negatives might make sense in some languages, you shouldn’t use two negatives in the same clause in English. Think about it logically; if one negative changes the meaning of a word or sentence, then...
What is the rule of double negatives? Two negative words cancel each other out and make a positive meaning. For example, "I don't have no money." If "no money" is what I "don't have", then money must be what I do have. To correct the double negative, replace one of the negati...
(This is a double negative.) Remember that two negatives make a positive. So, the example above means that the flooding and the landslide were discussed, which would not have been the intended meaning. Here are two better options: We discussed neither the flooding nor the landslide. We...
Huck also uses "allowed" as a colloquialism for said, and he uses adjectives in an unusual and informal way in phrases like "it was rough living" and "dismal regular" (instead of "dismally regular," perhaps). The double negatives in "I couldn't stand it no longer" are an example of...
of the auxiliary contracted forms areambiguous:he's notis the contracted form of bothhe is notandhe has not(although this use is relatively rare);I'd notbe derived from eitherI had not, I would notorI should not, andyou'll notcan, at least in principle, be the contracted form ofyou...
Check out our next article on litotes, where we break down litote examples inBeowulf,Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and more. By the end, you’ll know how to recognize and use double negatives.
Stay Away from Double Negatives They are confusing, the last thing you want to do is confuse your customer and get an inaccurate answer. Example: “Was the customer service representative not unhelpful?” Ask a Combination of Questions, Including “Why” ...
According to PwC,32% of customerswouldstop doing business with a brandthey loved after just one bad experience. Turn complaints intoopportunities for customer loyaltyandpositive word-of-mouth. Consider the following ways toturn those negatives into positives: ...