Editing Double negative (section)

==Slavic languages==
In [[Slavic languages]], multiple negatives affirm each other. Indeed, if a sentence contains a negated verb, any indefinite pronouns or adverbs must be used in their negative forms. For example, in the [[Serbo-Croatian language|Serbo-Croatian]], {{lang|sh|ni(t)ko nikad(a) nigd(j)e ništa nije uradio}} ("Nobody never did not do nothing nowhere") means "Nobody has ever done anything, anywhere", and {{lang|sh|nikad nisam tamo išao/išla}} ("Never I did not go there") means "I have never been there". In Czech, it is {{lang|sh|nikdy jsem nikde nikoho neviděl}} ("I have not seen never no-one nowhere"). In Bulgarian, it is: {{lang|bg|никога не съм виждал никого никъде}} [{{Transliteration|Cyrl|nikoga ne sam vishdal nikogo nikade}}], lit. "I have not seen never no-one nowhere", or {{lang|bg|не знам нищо}} ('{{Transliteration|Cyrl|ne znam nishto}}'), lit. "I don't know nothing". In Russian, "I know nothing" is {{lang|ru|я ничего не знаю}} [{{Transliteration|ru|ya nichevo nye znayu}}], lit. "I don't know nothing".

Negating the verb without negating the pronoun (or vice versa), while syntactically correct, may result in a very unusual meaning or make no sense at all. Saying "I saw nobody" in [[Polish language|Polish]] ({{lang|pl|widziałem nikogo}}) instead of the more usual "I did not see nobody" ({{lang|pl|Nikogo nie widziałem}}) might mean "I saw an instance of nobody" or "I saw Mr Nobody" but it would not have its plain English meaning. Likewise, in [[Slovenian language|Slovenian]], saying "I do not know anyone" ({{lang|sl|ne poznam kogarkoli}}) in place of "I do not know no one" ({{lang|sl|ne poznam nikogar}}) has the connotation "I do not know just ''anyone'': I know someone important or special."

In [[Czech language|Czech]], like in many other languages, a standard double negative is used in sentences with a negative pronoun or negative conjunction, where the verb is also negated ({{lang|cs|nikdo nepřišel}} "nobody came", literally "nobody didn't come"). However, this doubleness is also transferred to forms where the verbal [[Copula (linguistics)|copula]] is released and the negation is joined to the nominal form, and such a phrase can be ambiguous: {{lang|cs|nikdo nezraněn}} ("nobody unscathed") can mean both "nobody healthy" and "all healthy". Similarly, {{lang|cs|nepřítomen nikdo}} ("nobody absent") or {{lang|cs|plánovány byly tři úkoly, nesplněn žádný}} ("three tasks were planned, none uncompleted").<ref>{{cite web | title=nikdo nezraněn | date=1997-01-01 | url=http://ujc.avcr.cz/jazykova-poradna/dotazy/0212.html | language=cs |website=[[Institute of the Czech Language]]}}</ref> The sentence, {{lang|cs|všichni tam nebyli}} ("all don't were there") means not "all absented" but "there were not all" (= "at least one of them absenteed"). If all absented, it should be said {{lang|cs|nikdo tam nebyl}} ("nobody weren't there").<ref>Jiří Haller, V. Š.: [http://nase-rec.ujc.cas.cz/archiv.php?art=4062 O českém záporu. I], Naše řeč, ročník 32 (1948), číslo 2–3, s. 21–36</ref> However, in many cases, a double, triple quadruple negative can really work in such a way that each negative cancels out the next negative, and such a sentence may be a catch and may be incomprehensible to a less attentive or less intelligent addressee. E.g. the sentence, {{lang|cs|nemohu se nikdy neoddávat nečinnosti}} ("I can't never not indulge in inaction") contains 4 negations and it is very confusing which of them create a "double negative" and which of them eliminated from each other. Such confusing sentences can then diplomatically soften or blur rejection or unpleasant information or even agreement, but at the expense of intelligibility: {{lang|cs|nelze nevidět}} ("it can't be not seen"), {{lang|cs|nejsem nespokojen}} ("I'm not dissatisfied"), {{lang|cs|není nezajímavý}} ("it/he is not uninteresting"), {{lang|cs|nemohu nesouhlasit}} ("I can't disagree").<ref>Tereza Filinová: [https://cesky.radio.cz/klady-zaporu-8564550 Klady záporu], Český rozhlas (Czech Broadcasting), 2011 April 9</ref>