なくもない details
write + it's not that one doesn't
kaka naku mo nai
it's not that one doesn't; sort of, up to a point
meaning: it's not that I don't write
彼の言い分も、分からなくもない。
kare no iibun mo, wakara naku mo nai.
As for his side of it, it's not that I don't understand. neutral
面倒だけど、頼まれれば手伝わなくもないよ。
mendou da kedo, tanomarereba tetsudawanaku mo nai yo.
It's a hassle, but if you ask me, it's not like I wouldn't help. casual
- alternant
- literary
- literary
- past
- polite
Examples
it's not that one doesn't — a hedged, partial yes reached by cancelling a negative
彼の言い分も、分からなくもない。
kare no iibun mo, wakaranakumonai.
As for his side of it, it's not that I don't understand. neutral
面倒だけど、頼まれれば手伝わなくもないよ。
mendou da kedo, tanomarereba tetsudawanaku mo nai yo.
It's a hassle, but if you ask me, it's not like I wouldn't help. casual
ご提案の趣旨は理解できなくもありませんが、時期尚早かと存じます。
go teian no shushi wa rikai dekinaku mo arimasen ga, jikishousou ka to zonjimasu.
It is not that I fail to see the point of your proposal, but I believe it premature. formal
Formation
{V-nai-stem}なくもないattaches to ない-stem{V-nai}でもないattaches to ない-form
Variant notes
- なくはない — は for も drops the hedging a notch — 行かなくはない concedes the fact, 行かなくもない keeps its distance from it; neither is the more spoken of the two.
- ないでもない — the same litotes on the plain ない, stiffer and mostly written — 考えられないでもない.
- ないものでもない — stiffer again, with ものだ's air of general truth; almost confined to written argument and negotiation.
Notes
speaker might well go. The hedge is in how far — never in whether.
Related patterns
Similar
Both are double negatives conceding a grudging yes, but they answer different questions — ないことはない concedes FEASIBILITY ("can you?" — "well, I can"), while なくもない concedes DEGREE, hedging how far the speaker agrees or is willing.
Lookalikes
One て apart and both opening 〜なく — なくてもいい releases you from the act (行かなくてもいい, you needn't go), なくもない half-commits you to it (行かなくもない, I might well go after all).
Same meaning
it's not that X can't; possible after all
| Pattern | Attaches to |
|---|---|
| ないことはない |