N4 Topics
L5: Doubling Down on Double Negatives
Doubling Down on Double Negatives
In this Topic, we’re going to learn three common negative patterns.
We will learn about 少しも, which is often used with negatives to emphasize them. And we will also learn about 少なくない, which is the negative form of the adjective 少ない ‘few’. This negation then literally means ‘not a few’ (that is, ‘a lot’!).
We will also learn about the double negative pattern ない〜はない. In the Details section we will look at more examples of double negatives, to help us better understand them.
Grammar in this Topic
～ない～はない
There is not ~ that is not/does not
～ない～はない is an example of a double negative in Japanese, and is a grammar construction that requires careful attention in order not to incorrectly interpret. Both the い-Adjective (形容詞), and auxiliary verb forms of ない may be used in this construction, depending on what type of word is being negated. Let's take a look at a few examples.
Literally, this grammar pattern is very similar to 'there isn't an (A) that doesn't (B)' in English.
Caution
This term is not to to be confused with なくはない, a more advanced grammar pattern which means 'It's not that it isn't (A)'.
すこしも～ない
Not even a little, Not at all, Not in the least, Never
Coming from the word 少し (a little bit), すこしも～ない is an expression which translates almost exactly to 'not even a little bit (A)' in English. Due to this, it indicates that there is 'no (A)', '(A) never happens', or 'not (A) at all', depending on whether a verb or an adjective is the word that is being negated. すこしも can come at the beginning of the sentence, or directly before the word/statement it is referring to.
Fun Fact
This construction is another example of how the も particle expresses that the word before it is surprising in some way, or unexpected. This was briefly discussed in the Number + も grammar point.
Here we can see that も is highlighting 少し as being 'surprising'. This is where the 'not even!' meaning comes from.
すくなくない
Quite a few, Quite a lot, Many, Not a few, Not a little
Another expression that utilizes the 少 kanji (meaning 'few'), in its い-Adjective form, is 少なくない. This is an example of a double negative in Japanese, as 少ない 'a few' is being negated in 少なくない. Therefore, the meaning is 'not a few', and translates more closely to 'quite a few', or 'quite a lot'.
To use this expression, simply pair a noun with は, が, or も, and then follow it with 少なくない (or 少なくありません).
Caution
The ない in 少ない is not the い-Adjective ない, but part of the word 少ない itself. There are several い-Adjectives like this in Japanese, and they will need to be remembered.
Details
Although the basic logic of double negatives is not too difficult, they can feel a little tricky at first when we aren’t used to smoothly and quickly reading Japanese sentences. This is a problem that resolves itself quite easily through practice, so let’s look at some examples of double negatives and get a little more used to them.
Why So Negative?
One area that Japanese frequently uses double negatives is in phrases meaning ‘must’ and ‘should’. We learned about these towards the end of N5, but the basic logic of them is worth revisiting now while we are talking about double negatives.
The logic of presenting a negative condition followed by a negative consequence can be extended from simple, shorter ‘must do’ phrases to the sentence level. One common way this is done is by using the conditional ば form. It tells us ‘if this condition is not met, then this negative thing is the result’.
We will actually revisit using the conditional ば in phrases that mean ‘must’ a little later on in N4! Below is a sneak peek. The basic logic should hopefully already make sense even now.