Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

Double negation and hedging

447d

Double negation involving not plus a negative-affixed word (

Û

440 above

) commonly

occurs in more formal styles of English such as academic writing. It enables speakers and

writers to express ideas cautiously:

The government is 

not blameless as regards the recent rise in unemployment.

This is a 

not uninteresting essay.

Unfortunately, it is 

not impossible that at least one third of Shakespeare’s sonnets were

written by Sidney.

It is

not unusual for people to see the film three or four times.

Double negation as a hedging or distancing device may take the form of two negative

elements in a phrase, clause or sentence:

Not a day passes when he does not remember being the cause of her unhappiness.

(Every day he remembers being the cause of her unhappiness.)

744 | Negation

Cambridge Grammar of English

---

[A is commenting on the unwillingness of B to go to a hotel which they both know

suffers regular electricity power failures]

A: So you went to the hotel in the end?

B: Yes but not without a powerful torch. 

(Yes, but with a powerful torch.)

With the verb surprise, two negative verb phrases in sequence can also be used to hedge an

opinion or other expression of stance:

I should

n’t be surprised if he didn’t retire soon. 

(I think he’ll retire soon.)

A–Z

44 Hardly