Ask The Writer

What's wrong with the sentence 'I can't hardly wait for the game to start'?

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By Brandi Reissenweber

Published: July 21, 2011

Brandi Reissenweber

Q: An editor rejected one of my short stories with a note that I should proofread carefully before submitting. One of the sentences he circled was this: “I can’t hardly wait for the game to start.” What’s wrong with it?

A: The phrase “can’t hardly” is a colloquial expression that is sometimes heard in casual conversations. However, the phrase creates a double negative, a construction you usually want to avoid in writing. Negative words are often easy to spot. They can be “no” words, such as “not,” “nobody” and "never” or negative adverbs like “hardly,” “barely” and “scarcely.” Keep your negatives limited—only one in a sentence or independent clause.

Once you identify a double negative, it’s usually easy to fix by dropping one of the negatives. Your sentence might read:

I can hardly wait for the game to start.

Or, it might read this way:

I can’t wait for the game to start.

Many rules have a caveat or two and this one is no exception. If you’re writing in the voice of a character who is prone to such usage in speech, then let the double negatives survive revision. (Show some restraint, though. Remember, less is often more when it comes to such quirks of voice.)

Also, in some instances, two negatives can capture a specific tone. You might use a word with a negative prefix, such as “unintelligent,” “inarticulate” or “nonsense,” with another negative word to state an idea positively but express reservation:

Finn is hardly unintelligent.

Consider the difference in tone when this sentence is stated in the positive:

Finn is intelligent.

Again, consider the voice of the character or narrator before using this approach.

Brandi Reissenweber teaches fiction writing and reading fiction at Gotham Writers' Workshop and authored the chapter on characterization in Gotham's Writing Fiction: The Practical Guide. Her work has been published in numerous journals, including Phoebe, North Dakota Quarterly and Rattapallax. She was a James C. McCreight Fiction Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing and has taught fiction at New York University, University of Wisconsin and University of Chicago. Currently, she is a visiting professor at Illinois Wesleyan University.
Send your questions on the craft of creative writing to writingquestions@writermag.com. All of Brandi's other Ask The Writer columns are available to registered users.

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I can't wait for the game to start, hardly!

Submitted: 9/3/2011 11:27:29 AM (CST)

Sharon, do you mean phonetic spellings—regular words that you spell differently to show how the character pronounces them? (i.e. “gonna” instead of “going to”) If so, I don’t know of a dictionary of standardized spellings. (Although a slang dictionary, like urbandictionary.com might help for the alterations that have become very prevalent in colloquial English.) It’s worth considering that in using phonetic spelling, you’re going for a very particular voice. Characters with different native languages, for example, may alter the same word in very different ways. So, standardization might not be useful in all instances. You might see how past authors have handled the particulars of a character with a similar background as your character and get a sense of the success and impact of the approach. Generally speaking, keep spelling simple—“gonna” instead of, say, “gonnah”—and use sparingly. Often, syntax and diction can work in conjunction with carefully chosen phonetic spellings to really capture a voice.

Submitted: 8/18/2011 1:11:55 PM (CST)

When I write in the voice of a character, be it their speech or thoughts, I try to convey their cultural background (broad meaning) through their vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, but don't always know how to spell the altered words. Is there a good dictionary (paper, digital or internet) that provides standardized spelling, or is that soley the author's responsibility?

Submitted: 8/14/2011 10:34:52 AM (CST)

Grammar in fiction is an interesting—and sometimes tricky—issue. When a character’s voice or distinctive stylistic choices come into play, proper grammar might take a hit. That being said, the fiction should still be readable, even with demands for a more lax approach to grammar. It can be a difficult balance to strike. To master it, you have to know the rules in the first place and have good reason for breaking them. I discussed this in a bit more depth in this q&a from the archives:

http://writermag.com/Columns/Ask%20The%20Writer/2006/10/Writing%20QandA%204Character%20description%20fiction%20and%20grammar.aspx

If the link doesn’t work, check out October 2006 in the archives.

As to the acceptability of split infinitives . . . this is a heated issue with strong arguments on both sides. Some say a rule is a rule and it should be followed, while others say the rule is unfounded, as it’s based on a comparison with Latin structure that just isn’t relevant. It doesn’t hurt to play it safe and avoid split infinitives, unless clarity, meaning, emphasis or the sound of the language are skewed as a result of doing so.

Submitted: 8/7/2011 1:16:01 PM (CST)

Isn't it true that split infinitives today are more accepted? Sometimes to follow the rule, sentences take on a stilted and less readable form.

Submitted: 8/5/2011 1:10:30 PM (CST)

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