C1Englishen.c1.056

Litotes: negative + positive = emphatic positive

Structure:

not + negative/weak adjective (meaning: very + opposite)

Litotes is a rhetorical device using double negatives for understatement: 'not uncommon' = quite common.

Example:

That's not a bad idea. (= That's a good idea.)

Examples

That's not a bad idea.

(= That's a good idea.)

Question 1 of 30 correct

Which grammar pattern does this sentence use? "That's not a bad idea."

Absolute construction (nominative absolute)

Absolute construction: All things considered

Absolute construction: The matter having been settled

Advanced affixation: noun and adjective suffixes

Advanced affixation: productive prefixes