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Discussing English grammar, the term "double negative" is often, [9] though not universally, [10] [11] applied to the non-standard use of a second negative as an intensifier to a negation. Double negatives are usually associated with regional and ethnical dialects such as Southern American English , African American Vernacular English , and ...
The first English grammar, Bref Grammar for English by William Bullokar, published in 1586, does not use the term "auxiliary" but says: All other verbs are called verbs-neuters-un-perfect because they require the infinitive mood of another verb to express their signification of meaning perfectly: and be these, may, can, might or mought, could, would, should, must, ought, and sometimes, will ...
In linguistics and grammar, affirmation (abbreviated AFF) and negation (NEG) are ways in which grammar encodes positive and negative polarity into verb phrases, clauses, or utterances. An affirmative (positive) form is used to express the validity or truth of a basic assertion, while a negative form expresses its falsity.
Double negatives as negative concord – e.g., "We don't need no education" [15] Certain double modals – e.g., "You might could do it" – not considered standard, but used for example in Southern American English [16] Double copula [17] – e.g., "What has to happen is, is that the money has to come from somewhere" [18] Preposition stranding ...
If the verb in question does not use the progressive aspect, then the plain past perfect is used instead (see examples in the previous section). The past perfect progressive may also have additional specific uses similar to those of the plain past perfect; see § Conditional sentences , § Dependent clauses , § Expressions of wish , and ...
For example, run can serve as either a verb or a noun (these are regarded as two different lexemes). [3] Lexemes may be inflected to express different grammatical categories. The lexeme run has the forms runs , ran , runny , runner , and running . [ 3 ]
Do-support (sometimes referred to as do-insertion or periphrastic do), in English grammar, is the use of the auxiliary verb do (or one of its inflected forms e.g. does), to form negated clauses and constructions which require subject–auxiliary inversion, such as questions.
But the term "double negative" can sometimes refer to the standard English constructions called litotes or nested negatives, e.g., using "He is not unhealthy" to mean "He is healthy". In some cases, nested negation is used to convey nuance, uncertainty, or the possibility of a third option other than a statement or its negation.