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Not infrequently is a double negative, and is therefore technically grammatically incorrect. Not is obviously the first negative. The prefix in- is considered to be negative, as it means not. The s...
Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed
by
System
·
2019-12-12T17:49:01Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25342 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T05:45:48Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25342 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
`Not infrequently` is a double negative, and is therefore technically grammatically incorrect. `Not` is obviously the first negative. The prefix `in-` is considered to be negative, as it means `not`. The same holds true for similar prefixes, such as `im-` and `un-`. That being said, a negative prefix is far less obvious than a whole negative word. Authors will sometimes use the style you have found. It is likely that the author you are reading is just trying to sound more eloquent by adding more words with more syllables. It's a matter of taste and personal style.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2016-11-24T02:23:03Z (almost 8 years ago)
Original score: -1