Navigating Negative Constructions
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
Navigating Negative Constructions
The negative construction in English: We need it to state something is incorrect or not true. For example, if we look into a clear sky, we have the verbal component to express It is not raining.
At the same time, English teachers and communication coaches will advise us to use negative constructions with care and restraint for a reason. Negative constructions can make us work harder at comprehension; they can also trigger subconscious resentment or resistance, as well as be unhelpful, as we’ll see in a moment. When receiving information, our minds are more naturally wired to receive positive constructions.
Examples
(Negative) Do not use the main entrance when entering the facility. (Beyond being a negative construction, it leaves open the question of how to enter the facility.)
(Positive) Use the side doors when entering the facility.
(Negative) She does not often talk at parties.
(Positive) She’s typically quiet at parties.
(Negative) Your main point shouldn’t be in the final paragraph. (Where then should it go?)
(Positive) Place your main point near the beginning.
The differences between negative and positive statements about the same idea are clear. The positive achieves more, many times with fewer words.
As mentioned, we will still sometimes need negative constructions to identify what is incorrect or not true. We simply want to be aware of some of their pitfalls. Let’s review one area of the negative many of us are familiar with.
Is It True—or Isn’t It?
By now we’ve probably seen both live and fictionalized courtroom proceedings in which attorneys ask a question such as “Is it not true you were in the vehicle involved in the hit and run?”
This exemplifies how including a negative can make an expression evasive or slippery. Is someone being asked to tell the truth or the not-truth? The subject could provide different responses:
Response: No, it’s true. I was in the vehicle.
Response: Yes, it’s true I was in the vehicle.
Easy enough, it might seem, but the negative construction forces the subject to think more than if simply asked “Were you in the vehicle involved in the hit and run?” To this, the subject could just say “yes” or “no.” The simpler question also requires fewer words.
In addition, the question as posed by the attorney can leave room for the subject to be elusive because a negative statement has already been offered.
Response: Yes, it is not true. I was not in the vehicle.
Response: No, it’s not true I was in the vehicle.
It’s possible this word play by the attorney can be a subtle ploy to further force or corner the matter of truth by clouding intent with the negative: further proof that the mind works harder and gets confused without the positive form. A question posed negatively could even work subliminally on a juror’s mind by suggesting the subject is skirting the truth.
In writing as in life, the negative is sometimes necessary and unavoidable. In our daily discourse, however, such constructions may steer us away from clarity and efficiency if used and relied on too much. By keeping composition positive in form, we will promote more-effective message delivery and comprehension.
Pop Quiz
Using what you’ve learned in this article, choose the better sentence from each pair.
1a. We can see hardly anything through the fog.
1b. We can’t see hardly nothing through the fog.
2a. I agree with you.
2b. I don’t disagree with what you’re saying.
3a. Trey told Tina not to overcook the eggs.
3b. Trey told Tina to boil the eggs for five minutes.
4a. Is it not true that you stayed out an hour past curfew?
4b. Did you stay out an hour past curfew?
Pop Quiz Answers
1a. We can see hardly anything through the fog.
1b. We can’t see hardly nothing through the fog.
2a. I agree with you.
2b. I don’t disagree with what you’re saying.
3a. Trey told Tina not to overcook the eggs.
3b. Trey told Tina to boil the eggs for five minutes.
4a. Is it not true that you stayed out an hour past curfew?
4b. Did you stay out an hour past curfew?
If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the "Comment" box at the bottom of this page.
Great article! As a copy editor, I correct for use of the positive and for conciseness in sentence structure. It’s so much easier for the reader to understand the writer’s message than in negative framing.
I have a question ,please
There are two books ,the first says that we should use many and much only in negative sentences
the other says that we can also use a lot and lots of in negative.
Which is correct and is there a difference between American English and British English in this rule?
Thank you
If you are reading your books correctly, the first one makes no sense, e.g., We have many choices. The second is correct. We cannot imagine that there would be much difference between American and British English in this matter.
This is a great article about being clear in what you are saying or asking, regardless of the grammar rules around use of negative / positive statements. I have a similar issue I come across frequently, that there doesn’t seem to be a specific grammar rule for, that I will refer to as a negative-positive or positive-negative (as apposed to a double negative).
It occurs in sentences such as this
“No smoking is allowed.” (rather than “Smoking is not allowed.”)
“No food from other outlets is to be consumed at these tables.” (rather than “Food from other outlets is not to be consumed at these tables.”)
“The contractor must ensure that no wire or cable is installed over the drain.” (rather than “The contractor must ensure that wire or cable is not installed over the drain.”)
“Guests must wear no sandles or singlets.” (rather than “Guests must not wear sandles or singlets.”)
Not sure if I am being over-sensitive to these, but there doesn’t seem to be a specific grammar rule around this (automated grammar checkers don’t seem to pick these phrases).
The additional examples you cite are a matter of different phrasing of the same idea; the distinction lies in one form negating the verb and the other form negating the noun. Both forms are grammatically acceptable.