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<\/a>A double negative occurs when two forms of negation appear in the same sentence; usually formed when a negative verb (cannot, did not, have not) is combined with either a negative pronoun (nothing, nobody), a negative adverb (never, hardly), or a negative conjunction (neither, nor).<\/p>\n\u201cI can\u2019t get no satisfaction.\u201d It\u2019s considered a grammatical error, a substandard use of the English language, wrong; and yet, many people not only use them inadvertently, but on many occasions, deliberately. \u201cYou haven\u2019t seen nothing yet.\u201d They can be used effectively to either illustrate a point, or to emphasize a statement. \u201cIt won\u2019t do you no good.\u201d They are not only present in English, but many other languages, and what\u2019s more, in many languages they are accepted and used very regularly.<\/p>\n
In English, two negatives are seen to contradict each other, therefore making the sentence positive. Example: \u201cI don\u2019t have nothing,\u201d that is to say that I have something, for I must have something <\/i>if I don\u2019t <\/i>have nothing, <\/i>right? Well, many languages don\u2019t view negatives in the same way; in Spanish, \u201cI don\u2019t have nothing\u201d is actually a very common phrase, \u201cno tengo nada,\u201d said by many as they try to avoid salesmen. Instead of reversing the phrase and making it a positive statement, the double negative serves to reinforce itself.<\/p>\n
What if I told you it was also considered acceptable to use triple negatives in Spanish? Nunca le compra nada a nadie<\/i> — \u201cShe never buys anything for anybody.\u201d We start to get into deeper waters when talking about triple negatives, they\u2019re confusing and can easily be avoided; Groucho Marx once stated \u201cI cannot say that I do not disagree with you,\u201d I\u2019ll give you a minute to work that out.<\/p>\n