Does this double negative make a positive or negative sentence?


Is that sentence saying that you will worry, or that you won't worry?

> 最初からユニコーンを見つけるくらい大変だって知っていれば心配しないじゃないですか

I'm pretty sure it's saying that you will worry, since she said that a unicorn
is something you don't find right before this. But even without knowing that
can Japanese people grammatically tell that it is "will worry", or is it
implied based on context?

Or is it "won't worry" anyway? The double negative is confusing >.<




The sentence sounds like double negative, but it is not. To understand what
じゃないですか mean, simply replace it with です. But じゃないですか more sounds like you are
not sure about what you've said, and you want the listener to agree with you.

Here are some examples:

  * 心配しないです: I won't worry.
  * 心配しないじゃないですか: I won't worry.(and I want you to agree with it.)

  * これはとても難しい問題です: This is a very difficult problem.

  * これはとても難しい問題じゃないですか: This is a very difficult problem. (and I want you to agree with this)

  * そうです。: It is.

  * そうじゃないですか : It probably is.

