A double negative uses two negatives to communicate a single idea, duplicating the negation. In some languages, such as Spanish, when the main action in the sentence is negative, it is correct to express the other elements in the sentence negatively as well. However, in English, this is incorrect. In addition to sounding wrong (you can often hear the error if you read the sentence out loud), a double negative in English causes an error in logic, because two negatives cancel each other out and yield a positive. In fact, the wording of ballot measures is often criticized for confusing voters with double negatives.
Examples
John doesn’t need no [any] assistance with his sales presentation. [Or John needs no assistance with his sales presentation.]
Jeri could not find no [any] reason to approve the request. [Or Jeri could find no reason to approve the request.]
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