13.2. Double Negation

A grammatical reality of Romance language is that it is not always enough to simply have "non" at the beginning of the sentence to express negation. Some words that would be positive in a language like English must be negative in Neolatin.

Observe this structure for negation:

Non + Verb + Negative Word

Although double negative constructions are substandard in Standard English, it is correct in Romance languages because the negative adverb or pronoun after the verb reinforces the negative adverb "non" at the beginning of the sentence.

Negative Adverbs

Jamàis / Nunca	Never
Altronón	Neither / Either

Negative Indefinite Pronouns

Necausa	Nothing / Anything
Necuno	Nobody / No one / Anyone

Below are some examples.

Non vòllîo mangîare necausa.	I do not want to eat anything.
Non hi ha necuno en lo edificio.	There is no one in the building.
Non hi ha necausa como un caffè ad la mattina.	There is nothing like coffee in the morning.