1. Double Negatives Are a No-No!
Ms. Davis’s 5th-Grade Language Arts Classes

2. What are Negatives? Negatives are words that mean
NO, NOT, NONE, or NOT VERY
MUCH/MANY.
For example: no, not, nobody, no one,
nothing, nowhere, never, didn’t, doesn’t
(and any other contraction that uses -n’t,
which means NOT)
Be EXTRA careful of these words that
also are negatives: barely, hardly,
scarcely.

3. So What are DOUBLE Negatives?
A double negative is the use of 2
negatives to express 1 idea, and it’s
a BAD idea to do that!
We should AVOID using double
negatives when we WRITE and
when we SPEAK.

4. Can You Spot the Double Negatives?
He doesn’t know no one.
I don’t have nothing.
I didn’t hardly notice you there.
She doesn’t never come with us.
You didn’t barely finish your work.
He could not find nowhere to eat.

5. Be Careful!
We CAN use 2 negatives in the same sentence IF they express 2 different ideas (there are 2 subjects and 2 predicates):
I can’t afford it, so I won’t buy it.
Idea #1: I can’t afford it.
Idea #2: I won’t buy it.

6. How Can We Fix Double Negatives?
To correct a double negative, remove one of
the negative words, or change a negative
word to its opposite positive:
No-no: He doesn’t know no one.
Yes: He doesn’t know anyone.
(changed no one [-] to anyone [+])
Yes: He knows no one.
(removed doesn’t)

7. How Would You Fix These Double Negatives?
No-no: I don’t have nothing.
Yes: I don’t have anything.
(changed nothing [-] to
anything [+])
Yes: I have nothing.
(removed don’t)

8. How Would You Fix These Double Negatives?
No-no: I didn’t hardly notice you
there.
Yes: I didn’t notice you there.
(removed hardly)
Yes: I hardly noticed you there.
(removed didn’t)

9. Your Turn! Fix the double negatives by rewriting each
sentence. After you fix each one, tell whether
you CHANGED (C) or REMOVED (R) a negative
to fix it!
1. She doesn’t never come with us.
2. You didn’t barely finish your work.
3. He could not find nowhere to eat.
4. They don’t have none.

10. Fixed Double Negatives:
She doesn’t ever come with us. (C)
She never comes with us. (R)
2. You didn’t finish your work. (R)
You barely finished your work. (R)
3. He could find nowhere to eat. (C)
He couldn’t find anywhere to eat. (C)
4. They don’t have any. (C)
They have none. (R)

11. Which are Double Negatives?
On your paper, write Y (yes) if the sentence
uses double negatives and N (no) if it doesn’t.
1. Mary can’t go because she didn’t finish her
homework.
2. She won’t do nothing about his bad grades.
3. He couldn’t stand nothing she said to him.
4. I won’t go, and he can’t go.
5. I barely finished my lunch, so I’m not full.
6. Joe didn’t see no one.

12. Which are Double Negatives?
ANSWERS:
1. Mary can’t go because she didn’t finish her
homework. (NO)
2. She won’t do nothing about his bad grades.
(YES)
3. He couldn’t stand nothing she said to him.
4. I won’t go, and he can’t go. (NO)
5. I barely finished my lunch, so I’m not full.
(NO)
6. Joe didn’t see no one. (YES)