Double Negatives?! Help!

Question

Okay, so I'm doing a worksheet and the directions are to "Rewrite each expression to make it negative. Remember to use double negatives." I attempted to do this, however, I'm not sure if I did it correctly because I'm still trying to understand the concept of forming a sentence with a double negative. Are these correct?

1. Yo siempre estudio biologia.

          **Yo no estudio nunca biologia.**
   

2. Hay alguien de Puerto Rico.

          **No hay nadie de Puerto Rico.**
   

Also, any tips in general on learning to use double negatives?? Thanks!!!

You're doing pretty well. See Farallon's correction below. - --Mariana--, Mar 13, 2012

Answer 1

¡No, yo nunca estudio biología!

• The second one sound and looks fine to me!
• Another example that just came to mind is. "¡No tengo ningún problema diciéndole lo que se merece! = I don't have any problem telling him/her what he/she deserves!

I agree :-) - --Mariana--, Mar 13, 2012

So even if it isn't an answer to a question, it's okay to put a "no" at the beginning of the phrase? & Thanks so much! I appreciate it! (: - allyssa16, Mar 13, 2012

Allyssa-You still put the "no" at the beginning because it´s the equivalent of "Don´t" or "isn't" or "aren´t" Like your 2nd example is "there aren´t any...". When you answer a question, you use "no, no hay nadie.." b/c you are saying "no, there aren´t..." - missy8888, Mar 14, 2012

Answer 2

I'm daring to disagree with native speakers: please forgive the presumption. The correctness of the answer depends on what the worksheet, or your instructor, means by "double negative". To me, "¡No, yo nunca estudio biología!" is a repeated negative: the initial "No" isn't actually in the principal clause, so it doesn't directly augment the negativity. I would suggest "¡Yo no estudio biología nunca!" or "¡Nunca jamás estudio biología!"

How dare you!! Just kidding. =) - NikkiLR, Mar 13, 2012

I agree, by the way. - NikkiLR, Mar 13, 2012

With all respect, as natives we would never use either of your examples! They are incorrect. Unless, in your second example, you mean to say. "I never, ever study biology! Otherwise, it doesn't make sense - farallon7, Mar 14, 2012

Would you say "¡No estudio biología como nunca!" ? - jlupine, Mar 21, 2012

Answer 3

I agree with Jlupine's answer, although two native Spanish speakers said the contrary. They were not wrong, but they misunderstood the requirement for the worksheet.

As for "double negative", in Spanish, double negative is used to express negative statement, unlike in English, where a simple negative will do. Both sentences given in this thread demonstrate this point:

I never study biology. Yo no estudio biología nunca.

There is no one in Pueto Rico. No hay nadie de Puerto Rico.

Answer 4

i agree with farallon