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YuriTokoro (Offline)
Busier Than Shinjuku Station
 
Posts: 1,066
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Kawasaki,Japan
01-01-2010, 04:06 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Koir View Post
He means that statements made by his grandmother have three examples or forms of negative terms. Words that turn the meaning of other words to the opposite meaning. Using his grandmother's sentence as an example:

"I ain't never did none of that."

The main idea of the statement is she (the grandmother) has not performed some action that forms the context of the conversation taking place at that time. Except with three sets of negative (or meaning-reversing) terms, the meaning is completely opposite.
Hi, Koir.
A happy new year!

“I ain’t never did none of that.” means “I have never done that.” and the speaker has said in the way to underscore what her meant.

“They have not never occurred.” means “They have occurred.”

When the negative words are even number, I see the sentence doesn’t mean any negative, and when the negative words are uneven number, I can see the sentence has one negative word.
I see. However, if you speak to me with three negative words, I wouldn’t understand.
This is very confusing when conversations.
I, myself sometimes say double negatives, but never say triple even in Japanese.

Thanks as always, Koir.


Hello, I may not understand English very well and I may lack words but I will try to understand you.

If you have questions about my post or Japanese customs, don't hesitate to ask.

I YamaP
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