Understanding Double Negatives with Teacher Robin

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Hello, welcome to another class. I’m Robin and today we are going to talk about double negatives. So this is a grammar point that many students struggle with. So I’m going to explain what they are and I’m going to tell you when you should not use double negatives, and when it’s okay to use them. Alright, let’s start by defining a double negative. So what is a double negative? It is the use of two negatives, or words that mean “no”, in the same sentence. So in English, in many cases, this is not acceptable. So why is this confusing for students? Because in many other languages, like Spanish, for example, it is acceptable to use double negatives. So I know that this is confusing. So I’m going to now give you some examples of when you should not use double negatives and when it’s okay. 

All right, so let’s start out with words that should not be used with another negative in a sentence, because these words are already negative. You’ll see what I mean. Words like nobody, never, nothing, and nowhere. These words are already negative. So you should not use another negative word in the same sentence with them. So let’s look at some examples. I’m going to give you the incorrect sentence, the sentence with the double negative, and then I’m going to show you how you can make it correct. Alright, let’s look at a few examples.

That won’t do you no good. Okay. Won’t, will not, and no, that’s two negatives in the same sentence. So how can we fix this? We can say “That won’t do you any good”. So “any” is positive. So we change the “no”, for “any”. That won’t do you any good. Okay, which means that won’t help you.

Another example, I can’t find my keys nowhere. Okay. So can’t or cannot, can’t is the contraction of cannot, is negative and nowhere is also negative. So how can we change this? I can’t find my keys anywhere. Okay, so we change the nowhere to anywhere to avoid the double negative.

Another example, I didn’t steal nothing. Okay, did not and nothing is a double negative, so we can change nothing to anything. I didn’t steal anything. Okay. And another example with two options to make it correct. Okay, here’s the double negative. He doesn’t never help me. Okay, so “does not” and never are two negatives, not and never. So, we have two options here. You can say “He doesn’t ever help me”. Okay, so substituting ever for never, he doesn’t ever help me. Or “He never helps me”. Okay, so you can use the word never as long as you don’t include another negative in the sentence. 

Okay, so these are just a few examples of some double negatives and how you can correct them. And I want to point out, and you may have seen in some other lessons that we’ve done that I’ve done, or Jay has done, or Marian has done about song lyrics, we love to talk about song lyrics. And you’ll notice that many song lyrics include double negatives because song lyrics do not always use correct English grammar. So this is something to keep in mind. You may see this a lot, I ain’t got no, for example. These are just an example of a double negative in an English that you’ll find often in song lyrics.

Alright, so now let’s switch and I want to give you some examples of when it is okay to use double negatives. So this is a little bit more advanced. So we’ve talked about like the basic double negative. Now we’re taking it to the next level, this is a bit more advanced. So we can use double negatives in an indirect way, to express a positive. So what do I mean by this? Basically, the two negatives in these cases will equal a positive. And the indirect, another way to say this is an understatement. So when we make an understatement, it means that we express something in a less intense or important way than it actually is. Okay, so I think you’ll understand when I give you some examples.

Look at this. Dinner last night was not unpleasant, but I think it could have been better. Okay, so if you look at this word unpleasant, the prefix that means the beginning of the word the prefix “un” means no or not. So not unpleasant is a double negative because “not” is negative and unpleasant is also negative. But in this case, it equals a positive because you are saying something in a more polite way, instead of saying, “I hated dinner, I didn’t like it”, you can make it a little bit nicer. And you can use this double negative with with “un”. So another way to, another kind of double negative with the same example. You can say, “I didn’t not enjoy dinner”. Okay, so “did not” and “not”, that’s two nots. But it’s kind of expressing it in a way, maybe so you don’t hurt someone’s feelings. Imagine someone asks you, how did you like dinner? Did you enjoy it ? Did you enjoy the meal? And you can say “I didn’t not enjoy it, but it wasn’t my favorite”, for example. Another way to say this is “It’s not that I didn’t enjoy dinner”. Okay, so here we have “not” and “did not”, it’s not that I didn’t enjoy dinner. So these are some examples of cases when it’s okay to use these double negatives, because they equal a positive, and they are a more subtle or less indirect or indirect way of talking about something. 

Let’s look at a few more examples. Okay, because I know this is a bit confusing, with this prefix “un” again. Sudden storms in the mountains are not unheard of. Okay, so if something is unheard of, it means that it never happens. So this “not” plus “unheard of” actually turns it into a positive. It means that they are common. So when you say they are not unheard of, you’re actually saying they’re quite common it could happen.

Another example with this “un” prefix, “Richard is not unlike Karan in his management style,  wouldn’t you say?”. So here you’re making a comparison between two people and by saying “not unlike”, you’re actually saying that they are quite similar.

Alright, let’s look at another example. This strange fruit is not unlike a pear. So here you’re making a comparison to a fruit, maybe a strange fruit you’ve never seen before and a pear, so you’re saying they have the same qualities. They’re very similar, but they’re not exactly the same. So this “not unlike” actually turns into a positive because they have similarities. They are, they have things in common.

Okay, and finally, my last example of these cases when it’s okay to use double negatives. $50 for a concert is not unreasonable. Okay, “unreasonable” means you would not want to pay it. It’s exaggerated, it’s too much. So “not unreasonable” means it’s not cheap, but it’s also not expensive. Okay, so these two “not unreasonable” turn into a positive. 

Okay, so I hope that this explanation has been clear. I hope that you will start to recognize double negatives in English. And now I want you to practice so I’m going to give you three sentences, and I want you to correct them in the comments. Okay, my first sentence. Okay, so how would you change these. My first one, “I couldn’t never work with nobody like that”.

My second one, “She’s not going nowhere tonight”. And the third one, “My mother won’t bake no cake for my birthday”. All right, so write your answers in the comments and I will include a, the, I will include the answers below in like a drop down so you don’t have to, you don’t you don’t see it before you answer the questions and then you can check. Okay, so I look forward to reading your comments. I hope that you have understood this topic a little bit better. And thank you again for joining and I will see you back here next week. Take care. Bye!