A double negative — Sentence Correction Aptitude Question
A double negative: Choose the correct sentence: Answer and worked solution on CodeKairo.
- Topic: Sentence Correction
- Section: Verbal Ability
- Difficulty: Easy
- Time target: 45 seconds
Question
Choose the correct sentence:
Options
- I did not see nobody in the hall.
- I did not see anybody in the hall.
- I did not saw anybody in the hall.
- I have not seen nobody in the hall.
Show the answer and the worked solution
Correct answer: B. I did not see anybody in the hall.
Worked solution
- 'Did not ... nobody' is a double negative and is incorrect.
- 'I did not see anybody' is correct, and 'did' is followed by the base form see.
Answer: I did not see anybody in the hall.
The idea
One negative per clause. After the auxiliary 'did', the main verb always takes its base form.
Shortcut. Count the negatives: 'not' plus 'nobody' makes two, which removes both 'nobody' options. Of the two with 'anybody', 'did not saw' fails because 'did' is always followed by the base form.
Common trap. "I did not saw anybody in the hall." — it fixes the double negative, so it looks corrected, but it marks the past twice; after 'did' the verb stays 'see'.