Why Are Two or More Negative Numbers Required When Responding To A Question
Why are two or more negative words required for when the sentence is a negative answer to a question?
Any answer is gracious
1 Answer
I am not entirely sure what you mean, but I guess you are talking about:
[Maybe What you are Talking About]
¿Tienes alguna pregunta?
No, no tengo ninguna.
Being no authority on the matter, I will let others completely answer you (and instead puzzle over it with you while we wait), but I think this is somewhat like in English:
[English Example]
Have a question?
No, I do not have one.
But I know where you could rent one cheap
Except that in a Spanish sentence, all the normally positive quantifying adjectives also get turned negative, as in algún becoming ningún, algo becoming nada and so on. But that's right in vein with how assertive sentences work too:
[Double Use of Negatives]
No tengo ninguna pregunta. Eso me preocupa mucho...
Though again:
[No Double Use of Negatives]
No te preocupa. Ven y ten un helado frío.
Gracias, pero no puedo [porque no tengo nada de dinero.]
So it would seem that Spanish always uses double (or multiple) negatives when responding negatively since the initial 'No' counts as a negative too and is usually necessary. Though I am not sure it is always necessary. Maybe:
[Possible Way of Answering without Double Negatives]
¿Tienes bolígrafo?
Sí. Ten aquí.
Gracias, pero.. ¿tienes otro bolígrafo/un taza de café para mi amigo?
¿Te parece que soy una tienda de bolígrafos?/Pero no lo tengo.
