Double negatives and usage

438a - Double negatives and usage

Words such as never, nobody, no one, nothing, nowhere have a negative meaning and do not require a negative verb form: 

Ø  The company never told the new staff that they needed a password.

(The company didn’t never tell the new staff that they needed a password.)

Ø  When I got there, there was nobody in the park.

(When I got there, there wasn’t nobody in the park.)

However, in many non-standard dialects of English, double and multiple negatives are frequent with words such as never, nobody, nothing and nowhere: 

Ø  I didn’t see nobody nowhere.
 

Double and multiple negatives are used, especially in spoken English, in order to create emphasis. Traditional grammar books prohibit them, and the use of double negatives with words such as never, nobody, nothing and nowhere is a very sensitive issue. Learners of English are advised not to use them.

Representing speech in writing

120 - Representing speech in writing

In writing, the expressive character of spoken language is represented by reproducing the sound of core words and phrases as accurately as possible. There is a wide variety of possible variants but the most common transcriptions are: 

§  I don’t wanna do it. (want to) 
§  Havva nice day. (have a) 
§  That’s great innit? (isn’t it?) 
§  I dunno and she dunno. (don’t/doesn’t know) 
§  I’m gonna have an iced coffee. (going to) 
§  Dad, you just gotta look at this. (got to) 
§  I hafta go now. (have to)

Common forms of spoken grammar

119b - Common forms of spoken grammar

Accusative personal pronoun as subject

I don’t know how but me and my sister got lost in the market. (level 3)

(the level 1 form would be: my sister and I got lost …)

Zero plural for nouns of measurement

That’s twelve foot long. You need something a lot shorter. (level 3)

(level 1 form: twelve feet long …)

What as a relative pronoun

That’s the house what she rented. (level 4)

(level 1 form: the house that/which …)

Them as demonstrative determiner and pronoun           

Did you get them photos we sent round? (level 4)

(level 1 form: get those photos …)

A:   What are the right plants then?

B:   Them over there, the peonies. (level 4)

(level 1 form: those over there …)

Ain’t as a negative contraction

I know something. That ain’t the answer. (level 4)

(level 1 form: that isn’t …)

also 120 for innit, which may be regarded as a variant of ain’t it

Double and multiple negation

She hasn’t got no sense at all, she hasn’t. (level 4)

I haven’t got nothing to say to no one. (level 4)               

also 438a Double negatives and usage

Patterns with past and -ed participle verb forms

These range from past forms used as -ed participle forms, -ed participle forms used as past forms and base forms used as past tenses:

She’s been so worried she’s hid in her room. (level 4)

Yeah, it’s good, innit, I seen it there yesterday. (level 4)

She’s already give it to me, thanks. (level 4)

Subject/verb concord

This is a very common area of variation in spoken grammar. Patterns occur involving singular noun + plural verb, plural noun + singular verb and structures involving existential there, in particular, in which a singular verb is followed by a plural complement. This last structure is very common in spoken English and is becoming established as a standard form:

It were too heavy to move. You need a winch of some sort. (level 4)

We was frightened like. That’s why we didn’t call her. (level 4)

There’s three other people still to come. (level 2)