Negativos- Negative Sentences

NEGATIVE SENTENCES:

In English you may only use one negative word in a single clause.  The error is called the “double negative.” The two negative expressions give the clause an affirmative meaning:  Nobody did nothing means Everybody did something.  Use an affirmative verb with negative expressions…. We didn’t see anybody / We saw nobody.

Examples:

Wrong- I haven’t seen no one.  Correct: I haven’t seen anyone. I have seen no one.

Wrong- I haven’t done nothing wrong.  Correct: I haven’t done anything wrong. I have done nothing wrong.

Wrong-  We don’t have not school today.  Correct:  We don’t have school today.  We have no school today.

Wrong- Didn’t Ann say she couldn’t find nobody?  Correct: Didn’t Ann say she couldn’t find anybody?  Didn’t Ann say she could find nobody?

Wrong- I haven’t but a dollar.  Correct: I have but a dollar. I haven’t more than a dollar.

Wrong- We didn’t have hardly any food left.   Correct: We had hardly any food left.  We didn’t have any food left.

Practice:  Write sentences using the following words correctly, without using double negatives:  hardly, nothing, but, wouldn’t, barely, scarcely, no, never. 

En Ingles solamente puedes usar una palabra negativa en una clausula. El error se llama  “doble negativo”.. y las dos expresiones negativas dan a la clausula un contexto positivo.  “Nadie hizo nada” tiene el significado de “Alguien hizo algo.” Usa un verbo positivo con expresiones negativas.  No vimos a alguien/  Vimos a nadie.   (En Español no tiene significado pero así se dice en Ingles.)