Help from English natives

Question

Hi everybody!!

I read this:

I used to be friends with you. Now we dont talk no more

The question is: Though anymore is correct in this case, do English natives usually say it that way, or is it just someone's mistake?

And I found some others:

You ever back in the NY area?

That's definitely not correct grammar

Thanks in advance!!

• Hola guapa, un gusto verte amiga:) - Heidita Oct 16, 2010
• You definitely wouldn't want to use the first one at a job interview. - benweck Oct 16, 2010
• Great answers!! :) - Jason7R Oct 16, 2010
• I do not think you mean "English natives", Benz, but rather "native English speakers" - we North Americans (excepting Mexicans and some French Canadians and/or native Indians) for example. - Janice Oct 17, 2010
• @Janice, well, yeah, but it's a shortcut, too. I say Spanish natives (sounds like they are deep in an Amazonian jungle) all the time because I hate typing out native Spanish speakers. - webdunce Oct 17, 2010
View 4 more commments >>

Answer 1

Hi, Benz..."We don't talk no more" is not correct grammar. You may possibly hear it in casual speech among friends if they are joking around, and you will hear it in some areas that are not academically inclined. "Anymore" is the correct grammar, as you noted.

"You ever back in NY?" is actually heard quite a bit, although it is casual speech. This is said by people of all academic stripes. "Are you ever back in NY?" would, of course, be the complete sentence.

Of your two examples, the second one is heard more commonly throughout all levels of society.

(This is in the US; this form of casual speech may be totally unacceptable in other English speaking areas.)

• Thanks mountain! Very clear!!! :) - Benz Oct 16, 2010
• It's also unacceptable in the US among people who choose to speak English correctly. - JulianChivi Oct 16, 2010
• Yes, grammatically incorrect, but pretty common - KevinB Oct 16, 2010
• I agree whole-heartedly with JulianChivis. - LKELLY Oct 16, 2010

Answer 2

I used to be friends with you. Now we dont talk no more

You hear people say this sometimes, but it is bad grammar. It's not acceptable English.

You ever back in the NY area?

This is also bad grammar. It requires the verb: Are you ever back in the Ny area?

You hear people say this more often than seeing it written. I think it's just a case of laziness when are speaking.

• Thanks Goyo! It's just very young people speaking. The same happens in Spanish, I'm sure you know :)) First we have to learn grammar, and then we have to learn how to spoil it... lol - Benz Oct 16, 2010

Answer 3

Benz Hello again and Welcome

In England the first expression would be considered bad English by many if not most people and as Mountain girl said

'We don't talk anymore' is the correct way of expressing this idea.

The use of the words 'no more' would be considered street language or slang and more commonly used by uneducated people and accepted in gang culture.Other educated people would probably know what it means especially Journalists.

As for the expression

You ever back in the NY area?

Do you ever go back to the NY area or Have you ever been back to the NY area? would be better English

I have to admit that what is acceptable in english spoken in U.S.A. is not always understood or accepted as good English in the UK or England in particular...and as I am sure you are aware colloquial language/street language (the vernacular) is more informal than written language the latter having more precise rules governing what is acceptable.

I hope this helps

• Welcome??? I've been here since the old times!! lol... thanks for your answer!! :) - Benz Oct 17, 2010
• I think he meant welcome again, you are missed my friend:) - Heidita Oct 23, 2010
• Oh! I see... I just come in and out... I'm not gone :)) - Benz Oct 24, 2010

Answer 4

Benz said:

My doubt here was whether you native English use these structures as everyday language or it was teen language or it was just some guy's poor language.

No way! The average person (in the northern United States) does not say "we don't talk no more" in everyday language. It sounds horrible to us!! My son, age 28, will same something similar or "I ain't got none" and I correct him every time...especially when he says such barbaric things in front of his friends.

• Agreed. - Goyo Oct 17, 2010
• Had you not specified "northern" US, I would have disagreed. Of course, folks up there say things like youse and youse guys for a plural you, right? (In these parts, we say y'all). - webdunce Oct 17, 2010
• Thanks for your answer Marianne. It's exactly what I wanted to know :) - Benz Oct 17, 2010

Answer 5

It's bad grammar but people say it.

• Thanks Silent! - Benz Oct 16, 2010
• Yes, they do say it, but it's not good for those like me that want to learn proper english. - Milagro1983 Oct 16, 2010

Answer 6

The 2 sentences that you asked about are "ghetto speak", people who wish to fit into certain segments of American society may choose to speak this way, even if they know it is wrong. It makes people appear ignorant. They are "kickin' in the hood with their homies". No translation.

• Very useful... I agree it makes people appear ignorant. This is an educated teen going to college. He fits your description. Thanks!! - Benz Oct 16, 2010
• de nada. - amykay Oct 16, 2010
• It can, as is in my case, be the way "hicks" talk. I am from rural areas. Such speech is common in the southeastern US, even in non-rural and non-ghetto areas. However, the exact style can vary. - webdunce Oct 17, 2010

Answer 7

One more thing...the "dont" in your sentence is actually "don't." It is a contraction of "do" and "not" and needs the apostrophe (') to be correct.

Contractions are considered good English in the U.S., but you need the apostrophe.

• I know. Thanks anyway :) - Benz Oct 16, 2010

Answer 8

Hey Benz Unlike Spanish, the use of the double negative is incorrect. The idea is that negative of negative is actually postive No more is possible with postive construction I come no more It also used when denounced or expressing a desire that you don´t want to see it. No more tears.

Answer 9

I know about English grammar. I've studied it since I remember!! lol... My doubt here was whether you native English use these structures as everyday language or it was teen language or it was just some guy's poor language.

.

Thanks everybody. You've been very helpful!!

• Hi, Benz. It depends on where you are and with whom you are speaking. Some people won't bat an eye at it (that is, it won't bother them). Others will look down on you. To be safe, only use it where you hear it (or amongst best buds a.k.a. friends) - Goldie_Miel Oct 16, 2010
• Goldie gives excellent advice! - webdunce Oct 17, 2010
• When using it with best buds, make sure the best buds talk like that first, though. ;-) - webdunce Oct 17, 2010
• thanxs guys!!! :)) - Benz Oct 17, 2010

Answer 10

I used to be friends with you. Now we dont talk no more

This is common speech in my area. I speak like this. Having been to college, I do not write formal papers with these constructions, and I would (try) to avoid them if I ever traveled out of the southeastern US. Also, I (try to) avoid them if speaking of serious subjects to superiors.

Incorrect? Well, technically. However, it IS a widespread regionalism and is correct to the people who speak that way.

I say, I ain't got none, too.

My use of double negatives is the only thing that helps me understand phrases like no voy a decirlo a nadie because I really do say "I'm not going to tell nobody." Or, lo necesito ahora más que nunca.

I consider double negatives to be somewhat more emphatic, by the way. Puts a little extra "ooomph" into it...a little more feeling. It feels closer...more connected...less distant (as one who uses both types of speech...but I am biased to the incorrect type...)

You ever back in the NY area?

(Do) you ever (get) back in the NY area? (a possible intent of the speaker)

Incorrect but common. We can leave out verbs and even subjects in casual speech (only context can supply the missing infomation). I am very apt to leave out the subject in quick comments like Thought it was that way! Only context would indicate WHO thought it was that way...it is usually the I or you that is left out...rarely 3rd person subjects do I leave out like that.

When I realized that I already can determine subject by context, it helped me (a little) with Spanish 3rd person verbs which can also be 2nd person, too (all depends on context).

• We also have an emphatic past perfect tense...done been (or been done...or simply been, a veces). I been done called him = I called him a long time ago (a long time ago can be anywhere from several minutes to several years). - webdunce Oct 17, 2010
• My so-called emphatic past perfect tense will sound completely uneducated to most, but should work fine with most people who use "no more" instead of anymore. - webdunce Oct 17, 2010
• Thank you very much for your answer webdunce!!! It helps a lot :) - Benz Oct 17, 2010

Answer 11

The person who would say "Now we dont talk no more" would probably not preface that with "I used to be friends with you", but rather have said "Me and you used to be friends" or even "We used to be friends..."

Note, by the way, that when we transcribe what that person says, we need an apostrophe between the "n" and the "t" in "don't".

Answer 12

Of course, from where I am from some people do say things like "We don't talk no more", but people this is usually from people that are not academics (you hear those types of things from country-type people.)

My problem with the double-negative is that you learn early in Mathematics, a double negative makes the mathematical expression equal positive, so the double negative, by the rules of Mathematics and English grammer, makes the sentence positive.

For example, I was talking to one of our customers the other day at work, and they were questioning if a certain activity always happened. So, for emphasis that it always happens, I used a double-negative to emphasize that it always happens. I said:

There is no way that this cannot happen.

A true double negative, and intentional, but the sentence is obviously stating that this always happens.

That is why I have so much trouble understanding why this double-negative situation is the rule in Spanish....

Answer 13

Where I live in England I don't hear either of your examples very often. They are bad English.

Amykay said:

The 2 sentences that you asked about are "ghetto speak", people who wish to fit into certain segments of American society may choose to speak this way, even if they know it is wrong.

I know this is sometimes the case with certain young English people too, often among the people sometimes described as 'Chavs'. (In case people are unfamiliar with the word 'Chav' I'll just say that it is used to describe aggressive teenagers, of white working class background, who repeatedly engage in anti-social behaviour such as street drinking, drug abuse and rowdiness, or other forms of juvenile delinquency.)

Other examples of this way of talking are:

'Done' in place of 'did.

'I done my homework. What he done was stupid.'

'Go' instead of 'Say' (this is given as one definition of Go' in my newest dictionary, I'm sad to say)

An' he goes, an' I go. An' he went, an' I went... !

• Those types of teenagers you described also use those words here, "done" and "go", in the same context. Small world! - amykay Oct 23, 2010
• It's a pandemic! - galsally Oct 24, 2010
• Very interesting!! :)) Thanks! - Benz Oct 24, 2010

Answer 14

Benz, chruhlman, webdunce ..and everyone who has posted: Knowing that other languages besides just Spanish also employ the double negative, I also thought to remember hearing that the double negative used to be part of English grammar. So I went searching for some reference to this.

I probably remembered reading Chaucer in an English literature class years ago. The class read a translation in "modern English". I still have old tapes of a reading of the entire original but I do not readily understand most of it.

In any case, my search was not difficult. Here a quote from H.L. Mencken (1880–1956). The American Language. 1921 :

Like most other examples of “bad grammar” encountered in American the compound negative is of great antiquity and was once quite respectable.

What I came across next in my search was an outstanding article on the subject in Wikipedia. I was "blown away" by the depth and breadth of the author's knowledge - considering also where you can find use of the double negative in our modern language - Both webdunce and chruhlman have pointed out usage to you already.

One of our posters - I do not remember who - once remarked that Wikipedia articles tended to put him or her to sleep. I don't think that this article about the double negative in English will have such an effect. It is very interesting!

• Very interesting endeed! Thanks Janice - Benz Oct 24, 2010

Answer 15

Let me see if I can answer this for you, Benz. My first post somehow got deleted in my attempt to answer your inquiry about "since I can remember" and "ever since I can remember", so I will have to type it again! "Since" can be used to to express a measurement of time, as in "I haven't been the same since then". It is also used as a synonym for "because". For example: Since I remember English grammar, (therefore) I can tell you the answer).

If you say "Ever since I can remember, I have studied English grammar.", it is clear that you are talking about the amount of time you have studied English, not the fact that you have studied English. It is the same with "then"; used with "since" it refers to a span of time. "(Ever) Since then, I have learned a lot". ("Ever" is optional here, really used for emphasis, because the word "then" makes it clear what you are talking about.)

Does it make a bit more sense now? I have edited this several times in an effort to be specific and concise. It is confusing, but if you can make the distinction you will speak with a much greater command of the language, and sound like a native speaker!

• Ohh I see... it's a very subtle distintion, but you explained it so well!!! thank you very, very, very much :)) - Benz Oct 24, 2010
• You´re very welcome! - athegr8 Oct 24, 2010
• Of course you could always say "for as long as I can remember" to avoid the crazy confusion listed above. ;) - athegr8 Oct 24, 2010