英语捷径再来一招！“双重否定句子”的用法

在英语写作，会话时用双重否定句子(double negatives)，有让读者和听者觉得说者的英语有文笔精湛的效果。难题是，双重否定句子是“不正常”的语文结构，需要不断的练习才能游刃有余，毫无错误地应用。

 

以下为读者们举出几个例子。

 

1. They don’t call economics “the dismal science” for nothing.

也就是说： Economics IS a dismal science.

 

2.  It is not that I disagree with what you said; I just think there is a better way to say it.

3. There is no one here who does not believe that helping the down-trodden is what a civilized society must do.

双重否定也有误用。尤其是美国南部黑人的英语，我们常听到这种误用的双重否定句子：

 

I didn’t do nothing wrong.

 

(应该是 “I didn’t do anything wrong”.)

 

Badges? [pause] We ain't got no badges.

 

(像以上这样的俚语很常见，尤其在流行歌曲的歌词上，但这句话有几个错误，一是误用双重否定，应该说 “…We ain’t got badges.” 可是呢（第二个错误）“ain’t” 这个字是 “am not” 的缩写，而 “We am not got Badges” 文法上也不对，正确的说法应该是 "We haven’t got any badges.”）