[Grammar] I don't think "negative sentence"

[kwfine]

Dear teachers,

Here is the dialogue between Peter and David:
Peter: "Mary doesn't know how to speak Japanese"
David: "I don't think she doesn't know Japanese. Her mother is a Japanese."

I am not sure if this is a correct sentence:
1. I don't think she doesn't know Japanese.


Thank you.

Kitty

 

[5jj]

It's fine, though I think, "Oh, I think she does know Japanese is more likely.

Actually the dialogue sounds more natural as:

P: Mary can't speak Japanese.
D: I think she can. Her mother is [STRIKE]a[/STRIKE] Japanese.

'A Japanese' is not incorrect, but we would normally use 'Japanes' as an adjective, not a noun', after BE.