Double Negatives

“We don’t need no education” (Another Brick in the Wall – Pink Floyd)

What does this sentence mean?

(a) They do not need any kind of education.
(b) They need some education.

What are the double negatives?

A double negative is usually produced by combining the negative form of verb (e.g., cannot, did not, have
not) with a negative pronoun (e.g., nothing, nobody), a negative adverb (e.g., never, hardly) or a negative
conjunction (e.g., neither/nor).

Examples

 I didn’t see nothing.

 I did not have neither her address nor her telephone number.
 She is not unattractive.
 I can’t hardly believe that.

A double negative gives the sentence a positive/negative sense.

 “He didn’t see nothing” = “He saw something”

 “She claims she has not seen neither Paul nor John” = “She claims she has seen either Paul or
John”

So, when we use double negatives, most of the time, what we say is the exact opposite/exact same thing
of the message we really want to give.

But double negatives are always a mistake/not always a mistake. For example, grammatically speaking,
“I am not unconvinced by his argument” is the same as “I am convinced by his argument”. But the first
one suggests that the speaker has a few mental reservations about the argument.

Another example is “She is not unattractive”. Grammatically speaking, it means that she is attractive. But
the speaker could mean that she is just an average woman, neither attractive nor unattractive.

Exercise: - Find the double negatives in the sentences below.

- Write the meaning of each sentence.
- Decide if the double negative is a mistake or not. Think of a situation in which you can use
each sentence.

Example: He is not rarely a visitor at the park = He visits the park quite often. The sentence is correct. We
can use if we are asked “Is he a rarerly visitor?”.

 She did not barely understand the instructions.

 This gem is not uncommon.

 The price of the car is not insignificant.

 The new disease wasn’t non-infectious.

 He wasn’t irresponsible about his duties.

 I ain’t got no time for supper.

 Nobody with any sense isn’t going.

 I can’t find my keys nowhere.

 She never goes with nobody.

 John says he has not seen neither Alice or Susan all day.

 You can’t see no one in this crowd.

 There aren’t no presents left to open.

 The pilot can’t find no place to land.

 It ain’t right to not paint the house.

 You shouldn’t do nothing to the house.

 That attitude won't get you nowhere.

What about triple negative?
“I cannot say that I do not disagree with you”.