1. Avoiding Double Negatives: A Quick Lesson
"You ain’t heard nothin’ yet, folks,“
-Al Jolson, The Jazz Singer
Avoiding Double Negatives: A Quick Lesson
Adjectives and Adverb Unit
8th Grade English

2. What is Wrong?
What is wrong with this movie title?

3. It has a … Can’t is a contraction for can not.
Hardly is a negative adverb…
So, basically, you have a dreaded….

4. DOUBLE NEGATIVE…
You have made Bob, the Angry Flower, angry!

5. Today’s Notes: Jan. 20, 2010
VIII. Avoiding Double Negatives

6. Here is the idea… The adverb not is a negative word.
It expresses the idea of no.
It can be part of a contraction.

7. But Be Careful…
Be careful to avoid using two negative words in the same sentence.
This is called a double negative.

8. There are TWO… Reasons not to use a double negative.
First of all, listen to how it sounds....
It is a mouthful…it sounds wrong, too!
I haven’t seen nobody in the hallway for hours!

9. It Just Sounds…Odd… I haven’t seen nobody in the hallway for hours!
We are so trained, we actually LIKE hearing the correct grammar….
I haven’t seen anybody in the hallway for hours!

10. Plus…
There is always the DREADED MATH CONNECTION…

11. As with math
What happens when you multiply a negative and another negative?

12. They cancel each other out!
Multiply two negatives and you get a positive.
The same can be said in English…
I couldn’t hardly wait.
Wait! Does that mean you could wait or you couldn’t wait…I am confused…

13. Did he or didn’t he?
Did he just confess?

14. So what?
If we want to keep a sentence in the negative, we need to keep it balanced with affirmative words.
Just like two negatives = a positive
A negative and a positive = a negative
I can hardly wait!

15. Affirmative words!
Affirmative words are the opposite of negative words like no and not.
Think of them as “positive” words!
They show the idea of “yes.”

16. Negative and Affirmative Words
A Simple Chart
Negative and Affirmative Words
Negative
Affirmative
Never
Nobody
None
No one
Nothing
Nowhere
Ever, always
Anybody, somebody
One, all, some, any
Everyone, someone, anyone
Something, anything
Somewhere, anywhere

17. Correct it!
You can correct a double negative by removing one of the negative words or by replacing it with an affirmative word.
Incorrect: The clarinet isn’t no new instrument.
Correct: The clarinet isn’t a new instrument.
Correct: The clarinet is no new instrument.

18. Now You Try…
In the following slide, correct the double negative.

19. Exercise

20. Remember…
Be careful to avoid using two negative words in the same sentence.
This is called a double negative.
You can correct a double negative by removing one of the negative words or by replacing it with an affirmative word.

21. FAIL!

22. Just for fun…