Writing for Grammar: Double Negatives

A double negative is the nonstandard usage of two negatives in the same sentence. In Shakespeare's day, double negatives were considered emphatic, but today they are considered grammar mistakes because they actually change the meaning into a positive.

NEGATIVE + NEGATIVE = POSITIVE

Remembering that two negatives form a positive will help you to avoid the "double negative" grammar problem.

Negative Words

Here are the most common words that are considered negative. Use them once in a sentence to make a negative statement. Two of them will make an ungrammatical positive statement.

• no
• not
• none
• nothing
• nowhere
• neither
• nobody
• no one
• hardly
• scarcely
• barely

Here are some double negative sentences rewritten to give the intended, negative meaning:

I think the new financial initiative will not last barely a month. (will last a month)
I think the new financial initiative will not last a month.

The first experiment was not hardly reliable. (was reliable)
The first experiment was not reliable.

The prospectors realized that their mine did not have no gold. (did have gold)
The prospectors realized that their mine did not have any gold.

The pilot could not find nowhere to land. (could find somewhere)
The pilot could not find anywhere to land.