Which one is correct?
1- I have nothing.
2- I don't have nothing.
3- I don't have anything.
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Answers · 7
1
As the other two members have said, 1 and 3 are correct, and they have the same meaning. If your pocket is empty, and somebody says to you, 'What do you have in your pocket?', the correct answer is either 'I have nothing' or 'I don't have anything.'
However, there are two situations in which you might hear 'I don't have nothing', the so-called double negative:
1. With a positive meaning.
In grammar, two negatives make a positive. In some cases, you can say 'I don't have nothing' to mean 'I do have something'.
"The fridge is empty. We're going to starve. Look - we have nothing."
"We don't have nothing! Look - there's some small piece cheese, half tomato, a little bit of bread - we won't starve."
2. In informal speech.
Here is a fact. Millions of native English speakers say 'I don't have nothing' as an informal alternative to 'I don't have anything' every day of their lives. You hear people say this on the streets of New York and London, you hear it in films and read it in subtitles, and you certainly hear it in hundreds of popular songs. This isn't in line with what the grammar books say, and it wouldn't give you any marks in an exam, but nobody can deny that this non-standard form exists.
0
1 and 3 are correct. Number 2 is wrong. Double negation is wrong in standard English in all the English speaking countries although you can hear it in substandard varieties of English
0
1 and 3
0
Hi Esraa,
As my khowledge, 1 and 3 are correct.
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