You are here#5: Negation Use

#5: Negation Use

By KLCtheBookWorm - Posted on 29 November 2009

This is another comment sparked Grammar Guide:

Ok, whilst going through some writing of mine. I came up against this.
Negation Use What the hell is Negation use. :\

To make it easier, here is the sentence.

Never one for backing down, it wasn’t until the second film had been in the cinema and a friend had lent us the DVD of the Fellowship of the Ring that I succumbed to my curiosity.

Please help. I've no idea what's negative about this sentence?

Two negatives cancel each other out. :lol At least that's how I translated the official rule.

Official rule: The double negative is a construction in which two negative words are used where one is sufficient. Formerly, double negatives were quite acceptable, but now they are considered nonstandard. (Warriner's English Grammar and Composition)

Your computer saw two negative words in the same sentence and flagged it. Let’s look at the sentence.

Never one for backing down, it wasn’t until the second film had been in the cinema and a friend had lent us the DVD of the Fellowship of the Ring that I succumbed to my curiosity.

The real problem I see with this sentence is the phrase "Never one for backing down." It doesn't seem to fit. You start off stubborn, but by the end of the sentence you've given in. The beginning idea might need to be shuffled to the previous sentence.

So basically I'm putting two negative ideas, into the same sentence. That’s why it's throwing a hissy fit with me, right?

Basically yeap, that's why it's throwing a hissy fit. This is probably a good example over why computer grammar checks are good and bad. It flagged a sentence for a problem it doesn't have, but the sentence has a structural flaw needing addressing that you might have missed on a read-through.

Back to what you shouldn't put together so you avoid creating double negatives.

can't hardly, can't scarcely The words hardly and scarcely are negatives. They should never be used with negative not.

NONSTANDARD: I can't hardly tell the difference between this year's cars and last year's.

STANDARD: I can hardly tell the difference between this year's cars and last year's.

haven't but, haven't only In certain uses but and only are negatives. Avoid using them with not.

NONSTANDARD: We hadn't but a few cents in our pockets.

FORMAL: We had but a few cents in our pockets.

no, nothing, none, never Not to be used with another negative word.

NONSTANDARD: Haven't you no ticket?

STANDARD: Haven't you a ticket?

STANDARD: Have you no ticket?

NONSTANDARD: The factory workers will never vote for no strike.

STANDARD: The factory workers will never vote for a strike.

Barely is another negative modifier, and should be watched just like hardly and scarcely. Contracting not can also trip you up.

NONSTANDARD: He didn't hear nothing.

STANDARD: He didn't hear anything.

QUIZ: Rewrite any of the sentences that contain double negatives to eliminate the problem. Not every sentence is faulty.

Americans are notorious for not knowing hardly any geography.

On an unlabeled map they can't barely find their own state, much less the countries they read about in the news.

More depressing, most people don't feel no need to improve their knowledge.

There can hardly be two places more talked about in the United States than Bosnia and the Persian Gulf.

Yet the majority of Americans couldn't no more tell you where those places are than they could fly.

Grade yourself here.

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