06/2014 - The Grammar-Us Blog - Grammar-Us

The goal of every good communicator should be to say what he or she means, as clearly and concisely as possible.  Using double negatives in writing or speech certainly throws a roadblock in the path of that lofty plan!  At best, use of double negatives gives the impression that the writer or speaker must have fallen asleep in eighth grade English class on the day double negatives were discussed.  At worst, more discerning readers/listeners may be confused as to what you actually mean, resulting in your communication being dismissed altogether.

I strongly suspect that one of the motivations for using double negatives is the mistaken belief that they emphasize the negativity of the statement.  Perhaps they reason that, if it’s acceptable to say, “This food is very, very good,” to emphasize that the food is even better than just “very” good, then adding two negative words to a sentence will have the same effect.  Unfortunately, however, this is not the case.

The simple fact is that double negatives “cancel each other out.”  In other words, two negatives make a positive.  For example, take that famous line from the Rolling Stones song: “I can’t get no satisfaction.”  If Mick Jagger cannot get NO satisfaction, then that must mean that he is getting SOME satisfaction.   Here are a few other examples to illustrate how double negatives turn the statements into positive ones:

“She didn’t say nothing to him!”  She must have said SOMEthing, because she said that she failed to say nothing at all.  To fix this sentence, simply say, “She didn’t say anything to him,” or “She said nothing to him.” Take out one of the negatives, and the statement becomes what you intended to say.

“I didn’t see nobody.”  The speaker must have seen SOMEone, because he failed to see no one at all. Again, remove one of the negatives.  You can say, “I didn’t see anybody,” or “I saw nobody,” and your point is made.

“He doesn’t have no time for that nonsense.”  If he does not have a dearth of time, then he must have at least SOME time for nonsense! The best way to fix this sentence would be to say, “He doesn’t have time for that nonsense.” Or, if you really want to emphasize the lack of time, you can say, “He doesn’t have ANY time for that nonsense.”

Here’s a tip:  To correct a double negative in a sentence, simple delete the “no” and replace it with “any.”  And here’s a way to remember it: “No ‘noes,’ please.”

There’s another form of double negative that’s a bit more subtle, because it does not have the blatant use of “not” and “no” in the same sentence.  Instead, it uses “can’t hardly” or “doesn’t hardly.”  Here’s an example: “I was laughing so hard I couldn’t hardly breathe.”  

According to Webster’s Dictionary, “hardly” means “scarcely; true to an insignificant extent; barely, only just; slightly.”  Applying this definition to the sentence above, if you “can’t hardly breathe,” then that means that you are unable to “slightly” breathe; indeed, you either not breathing at all (which is not “hardly” breathing), or you are breathing quite normally! Of course, everyone knows that, when you laugh very hard, you often get short of breath.  If that is, indeed, what the speaker meant to express in this example, then she should have said, “I was laughing so hard that I could hardly breathe,” or “I was laughing so hard that I couldn’t breathe.”

Here’s another example: “It doesn’t hardly matter to me one way or the other.”  If it truly does not matter at all, then “hardly,” which means “slightly,” should be deleted, because “hardly” implies that it DOES matter at least a bit. Therefore, the corrected sentence should be, “It does not matter to me one way or the other.”


BONUS TIP:

Inevitably, there’s an exception to just about everything, and this week’s bonus tip is the exception wherein a double negative actually DOES stay negative.  Consider this example:  “You just can’t not go to the party, because it’s going to be fun.”

What I assume the speaker is trying to say here is that the person to whom he is speaking really SHOULD go to the party, because it’s going to be fun.  However, the speaker has communicated in such a convoluted manner that it actually takes a second or two to untangle his sentence and come to this conclusion!

It seems as if I am hearing this type of double negative more and more lately.  Once again, I surmise that the intention is to emphasize the negativity.  Although it may not be technically incorrect to say, in essence, “You are unable to not go…” it certainly would be easier on the ears of this speaker’s listeners if he would just simply say, “You should go to the party, because it’s going to be fun,” or “You really shouldn’t stay away, because it’s going to be fun.”  

Bottom line: It is no sin to be DIRECT and PRECISE.  If you have something to say, and you truly want to be heard, the best way to do this is to get to the point!