"I have nothing in my bag."
Translation:Non ho niente nella mia borsa.
8 Comments
I assumed "ho niente nella mia borsa" was enough as I wanted to avoid the double negative of saying "I do not have nothing in my bag".
However this link may help explain that double and even tripple negatives are the norm and that 'non' should be included: http://italian.about.com/library/fare/blfare141a.htm
I don't understand! Non ho niente ..... I do NOT have nothing/anything. The statement is I HAVE = Io ho or Ho. Yet both those choices are wrong? Ugh!
In English, a double negative cancels out the negation, but in Romance languages it, in fact, stresses the negation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_negative
I understand that this is true, but it raises the question:
How WOULD one say that they "don't have nothing"? There are times when emphasizing the lack of a negative is important. "I may not have much, but I don't have nothing. I should be thankful". Is there a way to express this?
