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Jexis Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

How to fix this double negative sentence?

“Everything has never been done for no reason.”

“no” and “never ” are both negative. I want this sentence above to keep in Present Perfect (passive) form because I want to imply something has never been done but I ended up having a double negative.

Could you please help me?
  

Top answer

"never ... " is not really the problem here. "Everything ...

— GPY

  • "never ...
  • " is not really the problem here.
  • "Everything ...
  • " is the main problem.
  • Perhaps you mean "Nothing has ever been done for no reason", or, eliminating all negatives, "Everything has been done for a reason".
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3 Answers
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"never ... no reason ..." is not really the problem here. "Everything ... never ..." is the main problem. Perhaps you mean "Nothing has ever been done for no reason", or, eliminating all negatives, "Everything has been done for a reason".
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GPYPerhaps you mean "Nothing has ever been done for no reason", or, eliminating all negatives, "Everything has been done for a reason".
Yes, I mean that.

But why do “everything ” and “never” in the same sentence become a problem? Also, “nothing and “no reason” are both negative, are they okay to put in the same sentence.

Sorry I’m not fully
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JexisBut why do “everything ” and “never” in the same sentence become a problem?
For the same reason that, say, "Everything hasn't been done" is a problem. We don't normally use "everything" with a negative predicate.
JexisAlso, “nothing and “no reason” are both negative, are they okay to put in the same sentence.
Yes, altho
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