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- Avoid no/not + negative adverbs such as hardly and scarcely. The main problem with combining no/not with negative adverbs is that the double negatives cancel each other out, leaving you with a positive meaning when you most likely intended a negative one. Delete the no/not or delete the negative adverb to preserve the intended negative meaning.
blog.wordvice.com/grammar-avoid-double-negatives/
Jan 14, 2021 · (verb negation + modifier negation) 3 Learning standard English negation is difficult because many languages and some English dialects use double negatives conventionally. Though it’s easy to assume that double negatives are simply unnatural aberrations, this assumption is wrong.
- Negatives and Double Negatives: Definitions and Examples ...
Double negation is especially problematic for negative...
- Negatives and Double Negatives: Definitions and Examples ...
Sep 19, 2022 · Double negation is especially problematic for negative adverbs like hardly, seldom, barely, scarcely, and rarely. These words are often used incorrectly with negatives, which changes their meaning completely.
However, we can use not + an adjective or adverb with a negative prefix (e.g. un-, in-) as a way of softening or downtoning the meaning of the adjective. The meaning becomes affirmative, but the double negation shows that the writer/speaker is cautious about it.
Mar 28, 2024 · Be cautious with negative adverbs: Negative adverbs, such as “hardly”, “scarcely”, and “barely”, can unexpectedly create double negatives when paired with words like “not” or “can’t”. Be aware of these combinations and rephrase them accordingly.
Most readers and grammarians despise the double negative, but there are certain cases where they aren't necessarily wrong. 'Litotes' are double negatives that subtly express a positive through phrases like 'It's not unusual.'
A double negative is usually created by combining the negative form of a 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). Logically, two negatives convey a positive sense.
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Double negatives are when two negative words are used to emphasize denial (e.g., I didn’t do nothing). They should be avoided in formal writing. In standard English, double negatives are considered “bad grammar.”
