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.