9. Reading Obstacles 5: Double Negatives

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When two negative words are used together, readers may struggle to see the resultant positive meaning

MEANING AND TYPES OF DOUBLE NEGATIVE

A double negative is a pair of negative words that combine together to make a positive meaning. The two negatives may be both the same (e.g. not … not … ) or different. Here are some common examples:

(a) (SAME NEGATIVE USED TWICE) It is not normal not to want to be loved.

(b) (TWO DIFFERENT NEGATIVES) It is not impossible to become a millionaire.

The first example means it is normal to want to be loved; the second that it is possible to become a millionaire. In the second example, the second negative meaning is conveyed by part of a word – the prefix im- . Recognising double negatives is greatly helped by being able to recognise negative prefixes, since they are quite numerous in English (see 146. Some Important Prefix Types). A problem, though, is that there are also numerous negative words that are not so obvious (see 13. Hidden Negatives) and 310. Aspects of Negation).

One situation where a double negative is likely to be used is when a negative statement is the established topic of a discussion. For example, (a) might be said in a discussion about not wanting to be loved, (b) in one about the difficulty of becoming a millionaire. The second negative is then added in order to be negative about the established negativity. A common reason for being negative in this way is when one disagrees with someone else’s negative statement (for other ways to disagree, see 152. Agreeing & Disagreeing in Formal Contexts).

Another reason for using a double negative might be in order to make a subtle distinction between it and the seemingly equivalent positive. Consider this:

(c) Dogs are not averse to chocolate.

Averse to means “not fond of” (see 175. Tricky Word Contrasts 6, #6). However, the negative of this does not necessarily mean the full opposite “fond of”. As with most adjectives, it also covers the possibility of a middle position: neither liking nor disliking (see the discussion of on the contrary in 20. Problem Connectors). As a result, not averse to is weaker than fond of. In the same way, not atypical, not impossible and not unlike are probably weaker than typical, possible and like.

The reverse, however, happens with cannot deny and cannot doubt: expressing the idea of “definitely true”, they emphasise a truth that would still be suggested if they were not present (see 224. Asserting the Truth of what you Say, #4).

Note, finally that two negatives in English sometimes reinforce each other rather than cancel each other out (see 69. How Computers Get Grammar Wrong 2). However, that is a feature of informal or non-standard varieties, and is not normal in academic and professional writing.

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THE DIFFICULTY OF DOUBLE NEGATIVES IN READING

The main reason why double negatives are a problem in reading seems to be the effort they require to work out their logic. The use of differing negative words may be particularly difficult, especially if one or both is “hidden”. See how good you are at dealing with double negatives in the examples below. Try at least to identify the two negative words each time before you read the explanation.

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Double  Negative 1

The most important point is that it is inconceivable that people could ever have developed their more complex tools without their ability to manipulate symbols and communicate with one another in symbolic languages.

This sentence gave students difficulty in a reading test. It means that making complex tools is only possible if symbols and language are used. The two negative words are inconceivable (= “not able to be imagined” or “not possible”) and without (= “not having”). Putting them together, “not possible … not having …” means “only possible … having …”. So the sentence could be rewritten “it is only possible that people could have developed their more complex tools by having the ability to use symbols and language.”

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Double Negative 2

An important concern in decoding images should be that of undermining the ways in which dominant forms of visual representation reduce complex issues … to a few “recognisable” aspects which appear to constitute an acceptable totality.

This sentence was reported as difficult by a student from Japan (see my posted article What can learners tell us about their reading difficulties?). The two negative words are undermining and reduce. The first means “preventing” or “weakening”, the second “making less”. If you prevent something from being made less, you ensure it remains large. The writer seems to be saying that people who decode images should remember that complex issues have a larger number of aspects than the misleading few shown by the most popular images.
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Double Negative 3

For example, if success and failure are to be judged solely by the quality of legislative reform …, the conclusion has to be that recognition of animals as anything other than commodities that exist mainly for human benefit has been limited.

This sentence was reported as difficult by a student from the Indian subcontinent. The use of a double negative is actually one of two comprehension problems here. The other is a lack of clarity about the link between legislative reform and recognition. The reader has to work hard to see that recognition means “recognition in legislative reform”.

The two negative expressions here are other than and limited. The first means “different from” (commodities) and hence is the same as “not” (commodities). It is helping to say something about animals. The word limited means “not much”, and is about recognition – there is not much of it. Thus, the double negative could be restated as “there is not much recognition that animals are not commodities”. In other words, animals are mostly viewed as commodities. What does that mean? It is a criticism. Legislative reform (i.e. changes in the law) sees animals only as commodities (things to trade in and exploit), when the writer thinks they should be respected as living things with rights of their own.

8. Object-Dropping Errors

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The object of a verb cannot always be dropped when its meaning is obvious

THE VARIABLE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH VERBS

English verbs vary in the kind of words they need with them. Some, such as SAY, must always accompany two noun expressions (a subject and object) with no preposition before either: a sentence with just one, e.g. *someone said, is incomplete. Other verbs, such as RISE, must accompany only one noun that has no preposition before it (their subject), so easily occur in statements like taxes rose. And a third group, such as CELEBRATE, allow either one or two, like this:

(a) When independence was granted, everyone celebrated (it).

This sentence remains grammatical (though not necessarily with the same meaning) regardless of whether or not it is used (for an explanation of “grammatical”, see 100. What is a Grammar Error?).

When a verb is being learned, the kinds of combinations that it can make with nouns are as important to remember as its meaning. This is because they cannot reliably be predicted from the meaning. Consider again the verb SAY. Its meaning of “utter words” is also expressible with the verb SPEAK. However, SPEAK can be used with just one noun (e.g. someone spoke) where SAY needs two (someone said something).

As a further example, consider the following use of ENJOY:

(b) When independence was granted, everyone enjoyed… .

This sentence can end with it, just as (a) can: the meaning would then be that independence was what everyone enjoyed. What, however, should we write if enjoyed just meant “had enjoyment”, in the way that celebrated by itself means “had celebrations”? You could not, in fact, just write enjoyed by itself: a second noun (or equivalent) must always be present with this verb (see 292. Synonym Pairs with Contrasting Grammar 2, #3). What you would have to add here is themselves (see 268. Types of “-self” Object, #2).

For another problem with ENJOY, see 10. Words with Unexpected Grammar 1, #(b).

The second noun that is possible or necessary after verbs like CELEBRATE, SAY and ENJOY is, of course, what grammarians call their “object”. In this post I aim to raise awareness of situations where the error of omitting a necessary object can occur, and to illustrate some ways of avoiding it. For some other notable points about objects, see 208. Verbs with an Object + Infinitive,  232. Verbs with an Object +”-ing” and 273. Verb-Object Collocations.

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DEFINITION OF A GRAMMATICAL OBJECT

In order to understand about object use, it is important first to be clear what an object is. Readers who know this are invited to jump to the next section.

Grammarians use the word “object” for a particular part of a sentence. The underlined word in the following sentence is an object: 

(c) South America has a wide variety of geographical features.

The word variety here has all of the following object characteristics:

I. They are usually a noun or pronoun, though they can also be an adjective (see 6. Adjectives with no Noun 1: People-Naming) or even a whole statement introduced by that (see 153. Conjunction Uses of “that”). Variety is a noun.

II. They usually follow  a subject and an active verb in a sentence (see 12. Singular and Plural Verb Choices regarding subjects, and 21. Active Verbs with Non-Active Meanings regarding active verbs).

III. They combine their meaning with that of the verb to say something about the subject (e.g. an action done by it, one of its characteristics, an experience, or what it possesses). Objects will not normally represent the same person, thing or idea as the subject unless they are a -self word (see 143. Subtleties of “self” Words).

IV. They do not have a preposition immediately in front, unless the verb is “prepositional” (see 84. Seven Things to Know About Prepositions, #5, and 44. Troublesome Prepositional Verbs). In sentence (c) the object of has is variety, not features, because the latter has the preposition of before it. Note, though, that “indirect” objects – which are not objects but resemble them in some ways – can follow the prepositions to or for (see 126. Verbs with an Indirect Object).

One final important point is that objects are less frequently found in sentences than subjects: most sentences need a subject, but many lack an object.

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GOOD REASONS FOR A MISSING GRAMMATICAL OBJECT

Because there is no general rule for recognising verbs that can be used without an object, it may help to know about their different subtypes. There are three main ones.

1. Permanently Intransitive Verbs

Verbs of this kind are very unlikely to be right with an object after them. They are followed by either no noun at all or only a noun after a preposition. The earlier-mentioned verb RISE is of this kind: after taxes rose, we can only add a following noun by means of such preposition phrases as …in Europe or …during winter. For an extensive list of similar verbs, see 113. Verbs that cannot be Passive.

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2. Occasionally Intransitive Verbs

Verbs of this kind are sometimes right with an object after their active form and sometimes wrong. Compare:

(d) The government increased taxes.

(e) Taxes increased (in the country).

In (d) the verb increased has the object taxes, whereas in (e) it has no object, taxes having taken over the subject position from the government. Country is not an object in (e) because it follows the preposition in. The meaning of increased is also different: “caused to go up” in (d) but “went up” in (e). In other words, there is more of a passive suggestion in (e).

Verbs that can be used in the same two ways as INCREASE are quite common, but by no means all the verbs in English. For a detailed analysis and further examples, see 4. Verbs that don’t have to be Passive.

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3. Object-Dropping Verbs

An object-dropping verb does not at first sight seem any different from an intransitive verb. Here is an example:

(f) Your life is threatened if you smoke.

The special feature of verbs like SMOKE, however, is that they allow a choice about including or not including a following noun with all the characteristics of an object, including the absence of a preceding preposition. CELEBRATE above is a verb of this type. Moreover, the noun in question is usually quite predictable from the meaning of the verb. In (f), for example, it is clearly something like tobacco.

This property of object-dropping verbs, plus the fact that they can also be used in the passive voice with the added noun as subject, means that they are not considered to qualify for the label “intransitive” that applies above. Other examples are ANSWER, APPLY (= put on: see 261. Words with Complicated Grammar 3, #1), DECIDE (see 309. Tricky Grammar Contrasts 5, #5), DRINK, DRIVE, EAT, FORGET, HELP, KNOW, PARK, REMEMBER, SPEAK, UNDERSTAND and WRITE.

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INCORRECT OBJECT-DROPPING

Many English verbs are unable to be intransitive or object-dropping: like SAY and ENJOY, they must (when not passive) be used with an object. They form the main class of “transitive” verbs. The error of dropping their object has different possible causes. One could be the influence of another verb with similar meaning but different grammar, as illustrated above with SAY and SPEAK (see also REACH in 250. Synonym Pairs with Contrasting Grammar, #1). Another could be a false belief that objects can be dropped when their meaning is obvious from the surrounding words.

Such a belief is not illogical given that English does elsewhere allow words to be dropped when the context makes their meaning obvious (see 36. Words Left Out to Avoid Repetition). Even object-dropping is sometimes practised, despite the bad grammar, in places where following grammar rules is less important, such as notes (see 158. Abbreviated Sentences).

One way to avoid an object-dropping error is to exchange the verb for an intransitive or object-dropping one. SPEAK, for example, could be used instead of SAY; ACT could replace DO in the common error *do like this (see 213. Special Uses of “Do” 2). Another avoidance strategy is to make the problem verb into a noun with a “dummy” verb like GIVE. For example, instead of writing describe without an object, one could say give a description (see 39. “Decide” or “Make a Decision”?).

A third possibility is simply to supply the missing object in the form of a general word like everyone, themselves, someone, people, it or them (see 211. General Words for People). Instead of saying *I doubt, for example, one could say I doubt it. Further examples are in the exercise below, which also offers some useful African wisdom. It should give a good indication of whether or not you are likely to leave out an obvious-seeming object after an object-requiring verb.

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PRACTICE EXERCISE: ABSENT OBJECTS

Here are some translations of African proverbs, each with a missing object. Readers are invited to find where these missing objects should be, and suggest words to express them (answers below).

1. An old hunting net catches even when there is no sign of animals.

2. They risk like a bald-headed man carrying a load on his head.

3. It is better to treat immediately than to wait.

4. He is disguising like someone who urinates while bathing.

5. A host who tells you to eat first will not escort you home when you have completed.

6. A widow will always compare with her late husband.

7. However bad someone may be, his relatives will not completely reject.

8. Do not refuse to heed when people try to make a point.

9. However tasty the meat may be, you should not refuse to give to the one who roasted it.

10. He who says he has replaced something is better than he who only tells you that something is worn out, without replacing.

11. Let me work even if they hate me, for they will appreciate after I have gone.

12. People will always praise when you are still in a position of authority.

13. Do not allow to be burned by the soup, which will always cool down.

14. Never make a decision when angry, as you may regret the rest of your life.

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ANSWERS (Missing Objects)

1. … catches something.

2. … risk their life/wellbeing; or take risks.

3. … treat an illness/condition/problem/malfunction.

4. … disguising himself/his actions.

5. … completed your meal.

6. … compare a man/a suitor (one could also say make comparisons – see 39. “Decide” or “Make a Decision”?)

7. … reject him.

8. … heed people when they …; or take heed.

9. … to give some.

10. … without replacing it.

11. … appreciate me/my work/what I have done.

12. … praise you.

13. Do not allow yourself/anyone. (see 65. Verbs that Mean “Must” or “Can”)

14. … may regret it. (the rest of your life is not an object but an adverb phrase saying when)

7. Reading Obstacles 4: Metaphorical Meanings

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THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM.

Metaphorical meaning exists alongside the basic meaning of many expressions, and can hinder reading when only the latter is known

DEFINITION OF METAPHORICAL MEANING

Meaning described as metaphorical (or “figurative”) is a kind of alternative meaning that many language expressions are likely to convey. An example is the “cause” meaning of the word a root. This is an “alternative” meaning of root because, of course, there is also the familiar one of “underground plant part”.

Metaphorical meaning has a number of key features. It shares with the basic meaning of the word(s) expressing it the same general idea. For example, plant roots and causes both have the same more general idea of “source”. Moreover, metaphorical meaning is normally newer than the partner meaning and more abstract. This is because words when first formed tend to have just a single concrete meaning, and metaphorical meaning is added as the people who use the words start to notice abstract similarities (like “source”) between the established meaning (like “root”) and new meanings (like “cause”) that they want to express.

Metaphorical meaning can occur in words, phrases or even entire sentences (for instance, as proverbs). Most of the examples in this post are word-based; for numerous phrase-based ones, see 241. Some Common Figurative Phrases.

In words, metaphorical meaning has to be distinguished from other kinds of alternative meaning. Some are completely unconnected to the basic one, so that they are considered to be not a different meaning of a single word, but a different word altogether with the same spelling and pronunciation (technically called a “homonym”: see 11. Reading Obstacles 6).

Other alternative meanings are connected but in a non-metaphorical way. They may be associated with a verb having transitive and intransitive uses (see 4. Verbs that Don’t have to be Passive), or a word being usable with and without a particular preposition (e.g. APPROVE vs. APPROVE OF in 44. Troublesome Prepositional Verbs, and NAME vs. NAME AS in 206. Ways of Conveying a Name), or a noun having countable and uncountable uses (see 280. Alternative Meanings of Action Nouns).

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TYPES OF METAPHORICAL MEANING

Other examples of words with a metaphorical meaning are a mess (basic meaning = “an untidy area”, metaphorical meaning = “a difficulty”), to flower (basic meaning = “to produce a flower”, metaphorical meaning = “to enter a golden age”) and haunted (basic meaning = “afflicted by ghosts”, metaphorical meaning = “afflicted by problems or bad memories”).

English metaphorical meanings often fall into particular categories. The words root and flower illustrate a particularly large one: relating to plants and agriculture. Others in the group are the verbs blossom, branch, droop, wilt, wither, stem from, sow, reap, grow, ripen, yield and harvest, the nouns branch, fruit, root and seed and the adjectives budding, fertile, fruitful and ripe.

Further common categories include colours, war, sport, religion and the sea. For metaphorical meanings of colour words, see 278. Colours. Even prepositions can have a metaphorical meaning. For example, under (basic meaning = “positioned directly below”) metaphorically means “ruled by” or “managed by” (see 229. Metaphorical Prepositions). Used alone as an adverb after BE it can mean “made unconscious by an anaesthetic” (see 154. Lone Prepositions after BE).

The common categories of metaphorical use in English may or may not be mirrored in other languages (see 137. Words that Reflect English Culture). Absence of such equivalence is probably one of the reasons why metaphorical meaning can cause reading difficulty.

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THE MAIN READING PROBLEM CAUSED BY WORDS USED METAPHORICALLY

Evidence for the difficulty of words used metaphorically is provided by the number of times they turned out to be involved in text extracts reported as problematic by speakers of other languages during a small research project described in this blog in the 1999 article What can learners tell us about their reading difficulties?. All of the examples in the exercise below were obtained during this research.

The main problem with words and longer expressions used metaphorically is their ability to express a different meaning in other contexts. This is the same as the problem with words possessing multiple grammatical meanings like some (see 3. Multi-Use Words), words spelt and pronounced the same as other words (see 11. Homonyms and Homographs), and grammatical structures with alternative uses (see 124. Structures with a Double Meaning 1).

Readers with a limited English vocabulary will not always be affected: if they know both meanings they should be able to choose the right one, and if they know neither meaning they will be aware that they have a comprehension problem and will be able to take some such successful remedial action as guessing (see 177. How to Guess Meanings in a Text) or consulting a dictionary.

The real problem arises when only one of the two meanings is known – a likely situation with less experienced English users – and the known meaning is not the one carried by the word(s) in a particular text. In such situations, the reader is not likely to realise that there is a comprehension problem, since the word(s) will nevertheless look familiar. The result will be either a false belief that the text has been comprehended, or a confusion whose source is difficult to identify.

In most cases where only one of the two meanings is known, I expect this meaning to be the non-metaphorical (“literal”) one. This is because such meanings, being usually more concrete, are likely to be encountered earlier in language learning than metaphorical ones. Sometimes, however, the metaphorical meaning can be the only one known. This might be the case, for example, with words in fixed phrases, e.g. a chorus of criticism (see 180. Nouns that Count the Uncountable), or words whose literal meaning is very specific to English culture, such as stumped (literally an aspect of the game of cricket, metaphorically a synonym of puzzled – see 137. Words that Reflect English Culture).

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PRACTICE EXERCISE (Words with Metaphorical Meaning)

Identify (with a dictionary if necessary) the basic and the metaphorical meaning of each highlighted word below. Answers are provided at the end.

1. At the peril of its soul it (the news report) must see that the supply (of news) is not tainted.

2. Two reasons in particular prompted the need for action.

3. These skills have hitherto been the domain of what are called typographers.

4. However, there is no doubt that heat conservation was behind the abiding preference for thatched roofs, despite the fire risks which led municipal authorities to forbid their use, within urban areas at least.

5. We may deplore the present divorce between spirituality and theology.

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ANSWERS (PM = Primary Meaning; MM = Metaphorical Meaning)

1. “soul” = spiritual life (PM); existence/economic survival (MM).
2. “prompted” = pushed sb to do sth (PM); caused (MM).
3. “domain” = area that one controls (PM); area of activity (MM)
4. “behind” = placed at the back of (PM); causing (MM)
5. “divorce” = marital separation (PM); separation (MM).

6. Adjectives with no Noun 1: People-Naming

The Educated

Using “the” with an adjective and no noun most often gives the general meaning of “people who are …”

THE LINK BETWEEN ADJECTIVES AND NOUNS

Adjectives are normally associated with a nearby noun or equivalent. In the following examples, the adjectives are underlined, and their partner nouns are easily seen.

(a) Educated people have a duty to help others.

(b) Some ideas are difficult to understand.

In (a), the adjective educated partners the nearby noun people, and in (b) difficult partners ideas. In (a), the adjective is directly before its noun, and in (b) it is after and separated by a linking verb. These are the normal two positions of adjectives, though not all adjectives go in both (see 184. Adjectives with Limited Mobility), and various other positions are possible (see 283. Lesser-Known Features of Adjectives, #2).

For numerous other Guinlist posts about adjectives, click on ADJECTIVES in the “Categories” menu on the right of this page.

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WAYS OF USING AN ADJECTIVE WITHOUT A NOUN

A further way of using some (but not all) adjectives is without any noun at all:

(c) Sometimes it is necessary to consider the unthinkable.

(d) The educated have a duty to help others.

There is no visible noun before or after either of these underlined adjectives, yet there is still an understood one that they are describing. In (c) this is something like “idea”, while in (d) it is “people”. Sentence (d), in fact, means the same as (a) above. It is sentences like (d), where the unmentioned noun is “people”, that are the particular focus of this post. For the use shown by (c), see 102. Adjectives with no Noun (2): Thing-Naming.

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REQUIREMENTS FOR AN ADJECTIVE TO REPRESENT A GROUP OF PEOPLE

Adjectives describing unmentioned “people”, as in (d), may have not just the basic adjective form, like educated, but also the superlative, e.g. the most educated (see 305. Wording next to Superlatives, #1). They have four key feaures:

1. There is always the in front: you cannot say *Educated have a duty to help others or *An educated has a duty to help others. It is unusual in English for the to be involved in representing a general class, but the is full of surprises (see 235. Special Uses of “the”).

2. The combination is grammatically plural even though there is no -s on the adjective (only nouns can show plural meaning with -s). This means that neighbouring words which have to “agree” with it – a verb of which it is the subject, or a pronoun repeating it – must also be plural (see 204. Grammatical Agreement): in (d) the verb must be have, not has.

3. The reference is only to human groups: to talk about animals or things, you must drop the and add a noun or noun phrase.

4. The reference is general – true of multiple times. The itself here indicates all people, but subgroups can be indicated by preceding the with a pronoun like some of, many of or most of, e.g. some of the rich (see 133. Confusions of Similar Structures 1, #1). To refer to specific people, there is usually a need to add a following noun or pronoun like people or ones, e.g. the rich people. For other ways of referring to humans in general, see 211. General Words for People.

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OTHER POINTS

Although the + adjective + ones normally refers to a specific subdivision of a group indicated by an earlier-mentioned noun, it sometimes has a general people-referring meaning instead. For example, the young ones can mean all young people just as the young can. The difference, I feel, is that ones is likely to indicate the speaker’s inclusion in the general group (see the end of 263. Uses of “One” and “Ones”, #7).

An adjective that can cause confusion in generalising is elite. The placed in front has the same general meaning as with other adjectives: “all people who are…”. The confusion comes partly from the fact that there is also a countable noun with the same spelling.

The noun usually refers not to all elite people in existence but only to a subgroup of them – often all the elite people in one country. Unlike the adjective, it can have an (an elite) and be plural (elites). As a plural, it means “elite groups of people” not “elite people”. Used in the singular after the, the noun means “all the elite people in an identified country”. To refer to a single elite person, say a member of the elite (see 175. Tricky Word Contrasts 6, #1).

Using an elite to refer to just one person in the group it represents is a similar error to using a bibliography to mean a bibliography entry (see 197. The Language of Bibliographies) and a vocabulary to mean a vocabulary item (see 180. Nouns that Count the Uncountable).

Other examples where the + ADJECTIVE stands for a general group of people are the poor(est), the famous, the elderly and the dispossessed.

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PRACTICE EXERCISE: “the” + ADJECTIVE

The following exercise is designed to help interested readers to discover some more examples of the + ADJECTIVE. In each case you have to suggest an adjective with the that means the same as the given group of people (answers are given afterwards). The first has been done as an example.

1. People who are over 70 years of age = The elderly/old.

2. People who belong to France = The ________ .

3. People who cannot see with their eyes.

4. People who are no longer living.

5. People who want to do paid work but cannot find any.

6. People whose marriage has been cancelled by the state.

7. Small children whose life has just begun.

8. Those who have never learned to read and write.

9. People who need help with some major things in life.

10. People who read a lot.

11. Those who are well above average in what they can do.

12. Those who have passed 40 years of age but not yet reached 65. 

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Other common examples are the hungry, the fortunate, the feckless, the gullible, the illiterate, the young, the desperate, the distressed, the poverty-stricken, the super-fit, the mentally-ill, the criminally inclined, the able-bodied, the (un)married, the suffering, the accident-prone, the wealthy.

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ANSWERS

2 = The French; 3 = The blind; 4 = The dead; 5 = the unemployed; 6 = The divorced; 7 = The newborn; 8 = The uneducated; 9 = The needy; 10 = The literate; 11 = The talented/able; 12 = The middle-aged.