Speaker 1: For some weird reason, the coffee shop near my office
was closed this morning. I looked inside, but I couldn't
see anybody. I mean I could see nothing in there. Well,
actually I didn't see nobody. There was a mouse running around.
Let's talk about that.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City, and here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: Alrighty, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael here
from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
This is Happy English Podcast, Episode seven fifty nine. Double Negatives.
That's today's English lesson topic. Do you have a request
for a topic here? Feel free to send me a
message at Myhappy English dot com and let me know.
Today we're going to be tackling something that's a little different.
Get ready to come with me and explore the world
of double negatives. Double negatives, Yeah you heard that right.
These are tricky little grammar gremlins that you've seen in
movies and heard in music like this classic from Louis Prima. God.
I ain't got nobody, I ain't got nobody what. Let's
see where that comes from. First of all, let's look
at anybody anything in either these words are generally used
with a negative verb or a question. I looked in
the coffee shop, but I couldn't see anybody. If you
get captured by the police, just don't tell them anything.
Suggestion won't help either of us. That's pretty straightforward, right,
So let's look at the negative words nobody, nothing in neither.
These three nobody nothing in either already have a built
in negative meaning, which means that a negative verb is
not needed. I looked in the coffee shop, but I
could see nobody. I could see nobody. This has the
same meaning as I couldn't see anybody, But we tend
to use nobody, nothing, and neither like this for emphasis.
Those words have a stronger, more formal sound, and that's
what makes them more emphatic, Like when you say I
have nothing to do with this, it carries more weight
than saying I don't have anything to do with this.
If you're a fan of police traumas, you probably heard
something like if you get caught by the police, tell
them nothing. Tell them nothing is a more dramatic way
to say, don't tell them anything. And you know, speaking
of drama, the English language does bend the rules sometimes,
like in the case of double negatives. Imagine you have
a big disagreement with a friend and suddenly they fall silent.
Silence is golden only when both people are in a
good mood. But after an argument, silence is unsettling. If
that happens to you, you probably want to ask your
friend to say something. You might say, Hey, don't say
nothing to me, Just tell me what you are thinking
about now, don't say nothing. When two negative words are
used in one sentence, both words have their complete meaning.
Don't say nothing means don't be silent. Please say something,
talk to me, don't say nothing. As I mentioned earlier
this morning, when I looked in the coffee shop, I
didn't see nobody. There was a mouse running around, but
I didn't see nobody means I saw somebody. Well, the
somebody was a mouse, I didn't see nobody. Two negatives
can actually make a positive. Don't say nothing to me.
It's like saying, I really need you to say something,
anything at all. The double negative adds this urgency, like
a plea for a response. It's not just about the
words themselves, it's about how we use them, the tone
a voice, the context of the conversation. All of that
plays a role in how we interpret meaning. And now
it's time to start bending the rules as we venture
into the wild world of slang, because when it comes
to casual English double negatives, they really come out to play.
You know. Slang itself is like the playground of language,
where you can experiment and play with words in all
sorts of fun and creative ways. Two examples of this
are ain't got and don't gout. In conversational American English,
two or more negatives can be used with a single
negative meaning, like if your friend asks you if you
want to go out on the weekend, maybe you want to,
but money is a little tight. The slang double negative
can help just to tell your friend, sorry, man, I
ain't got no money this week. I ain't got no
money means I don't have any money. And if it's
just a few days before payday, maybe nobody ain't got
no money. When I went to that coffee shop this morning,
I didn't see nobody don't and didn't also get the
chance to be used as slang double negatives with a
single negative meaning. Let me tell you the situation. There's
me and my two friends Jack and Jenny. All of
us are busy and have no free time, So I
don't got no time, Jack don't got no time. And Jenny, well,
she don't got no time neither. She don't got no
time neither. She's really busy. Remember that with double negatives
and slang with ain't got no and don't got no,
you really have to pay attention to the context in
order to understand the meaning. And by the way, you
don't necessarily need to use this kind of slang, but
I do think it's a good idea to know that
it's used out there, like I said, in movies, TV
shows and in music. God keep in mind, the best
way to remember this kind of English, or any other
word or phrase in English, is to take that word
or phrase, write it in a sentence that's true for
you or true in your world, and then memorize your sentences. Hey,
did you know that you can get the chance to
practice this kind of English with me directly? You can
get more practice using your English when you join my
podcast Learner's Study Group. There you can make new friends,
join us for live group lessons every week where we
practice these podcast lessons together. Plus you get access to
the pdf transcript and audio download for every Happy English
podcast in the past and in the future. And on
top of that, each episode has exercises where you can
practice this English point with speaking and writing checked by me.
To learn more, just visit Myhappy English dot com and
choose podcast lesson seven fifty nine. Remember, learning another language
is not easy, but it's not impossible, and I'm here
to help you on your journey.
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Happy English.
Speaker 1: Fish