74008
Does it exist as such, the double negation of an i-adjective, e.g.: おいしくなくない?
I was told that I should use おいしくなく は ない instead. Is that right? Is it a rule?
Would it depend on context which was a question like: Are the meals at that
restaurant good? Or is it just the style of the person I talked to?

Of course, I could also use e.g. まずくない instead, but this is not the question
here.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-20T16:14:41.860
73991
2020-09-29T12:53:37.390
35365
question
negation i-adjectives
Double negation of an i-adjective
The double negation of i-adjectives not only exists, but it is quite commonly
used among us native speakers when expressing opinions **indirectly**.

Take 「おいしい」 ("tasty") for example, by far the most common double-negative form
would be:

> 「おいしくなく **は** ない」

which means:

> "(the food) is okay/passable if not great"

That sounds fairly indirect, doesn't it? The direct phrase would simply be
「まずい」 ("bad-tasting") or 「おいしくない」, which would often be considered too direct
for the Japanese taste (pun intended).

We also say:

> 「おいしくなく **も** ない」

which means practically the same thing as 「おいしくなく **は** ない」.

I do not think that careful speakers would use 「おいしくなくない」 with no particle
between the 「なく」 and 「ない」 to mean the same as the two above. I would, however,
not be surprised if I heard it in careless hurried speech.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-21T12:33:44.450
74008
2020-01-21T12:33:44.450
73991
answer
From a grammatical point of view you can make double or triple or whatever-
iple negations, though it's not something you'd throw in a normal
conversation. As an example from Ace Attorney:

```

    -そんなことないよ。
    -そんなことなくないッ！
    -そんなことなくなくない！
    -そんなことなくなくなくなくなく...
    
```

With exception of comic effect I hardly can imagine situation where you may
need this.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-29T12:43:41.007
80890
2020-09-29T12:43:41.007
39646
73991
answer
I think you may occasionally hear some ギャル say これ美味しくなくない？ when, for example,
going to a highly reviewed restaurant, being somewhat disappointed by the
food, then asking a friend for affirmation.

In normal speech, however, you will quite commonly hear people say double
negatives with a particle in between.

> 美味しくなくはない。  
>  It doesn't taste bad.
>
> 忙しくなくはない。  
>  I wouldn't go so far as to say "not busy".
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-29T12:53:37.390
80891
2020-09-29T12:53:37.390
37017
73991
answer