Negative structures
There are a number of negatives structures in English ranging
from basic negative sentences to the more complicated neither ... nor
and not ... either.
Learn the most common negative structures:
- Negative Verb Conjugation
- Short Negative Answers
- Negative Imperative
- Never
- 'Any' words
- 'No' words
- Negative + Any or 'No' word
- Neither... nor
- Double Negatives
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Negative verb conjugation
The most common negative structure in English is the conjugation of the verb in the negative.
Verbs can be used in the negative by placing 'not' directly after the auxiliary verb in each conjugation.
The combination of the auxiliary verb + not is often contracted in English.
For example: do not = don't, will not = won't, has not = hasn't, etc.
Those contracted forms mainly are used in spoken English and in informal messages. In formal messages like in business and public authority communication they are not used. In spoken English, the not contracted form is used when one wants to emphasise the negation, as in Dutch 'écht niet, écht geen, absoluut niet, absoluut geen!'.
The word 'not' is strongly stressed in those cases: 'I will NOT consider regrading your assignment!'
The word order is: Subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb (+ objects and extra information)
Examples:
| Informal, spoken language |
Emphatic spoken and formal language |
| She won't come to the party tomorrow. |
She will not come to the party tomorrow. |
| Tom hasn't finished the report. |
Tom has not finished the report. |
| We aren't studying Russian this semester. |
We are not studying Russian this semester. |
Negative answers
If the answer to a question is 'no', you may omit the main verb.
Examples:
| Question |
Answer |
Answer |
| |
Informal, spoken language |
Emphatic spoken and formal language |
| Will she come to the party tomorrow? |
No, she won't. |
No, she will not. |
| Has Tom finished the report? |
No, he hasn't. |
No, he has not. |
| Do you study Russian this semester? |
No, we don't. |
No, we do not. |
Negative imparitive
The imperative form is used to instruct / command others.
Use 'do not' + the verb for all comparative forms. No subject is required for the use of the imperative form.
The word order is: Do + not + verb (+ objects and extra information)
Examples:
| Informal, spoken language |
Emphatic spoken and formal language |
| Don't begin without me. |
Do not begin without me. |
| Don't waste any time. |
Do not waste any time. |
| Don't touch the glass. |
Do not touch the glass. |
Double negatives
Double negatives - the use of two 'no' words such as not and nowhere in one sentence -
are incorrect in standard English.
In many dialects and vernaculars, they are quite frequent.
Vernaculars (ways of speaking to indicate you belong to a particular group) are quite tricky.
It is relatively simple to learn to use 'wrong' double negatives.
Yet there are many other unwritten rules. If you make a mistake, you are 'out' immediately.
It's like your teach trying to speak like a 16 year old.
When modifying something use either a 'no' word, or 'any' as explained in the following sections.
Examples:
| He doesn't like anything. |
or |
Angela hasn't visited anyone this month. |
| Angela hasn't visited anyone this month. |
or |
Angela has visited no one this month. |
| She isn't going to travel anywhere. |
or |
She's going to travel nowhere. |
Never
'Never' is used to express the idea that something is never done.
Note that 'never' is used with positive form of the verb but results in a negative meaning.
It's also important to remember that the present simple and past simple do not take an auxiliary verb in the positive form.
In other words, use the auxiliary verb for the present perfect, future, etc., but not with the present or past simple.
The word order is: Subject + (auxiliary verb) + never + verb + objects
Examples:
| She never takes time off work. |
| Peter never walked to school when he was young. |
| Mary has never returned my calls. |
| Samantha will never learn to eat with chop sticks. |
Any
'Any' and words such as 'anyone', 'anybody', 'anything', etc. are used in negative sentences and questions.
Subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb + any (+ objects and extra information)
Examples:
| Informal, spoken language |
Emphatic spoken and formal language |
| He doesn't have any time. |
He does not have any time. |
| Mary isn't going to eat any dinner. |
Mary is not going to eat any dinner. |
| Peter hasn't done anything for the past three days. |
Peter has not done anything for the past three days. |
When posing a question with an 'any' word, you expect the answer to be negative.
Examples:
| Is there any tea left? |
|
| Is there anybody out there? |
Probably not. |
| Is there any pupil who could answer this question? |
|
No words
There are a number of 'no' words such as 'nowhere', 'nothing', 'no one', which can be used in place of 'any' words.
Note the difference in structure between the two. 'Any' words take the negative verb structure, 'no' words take positive structures.
The word order is: Subject + (auxiliary verb) + main verb + no word (+ objects and extra information)
Examples:
| I have nothing to say. |
| The boys invited no one to their party. |
| Timothy has gone nowhere this summer. |
Any or No
Negative + Any or No
The following sections refer to specific similar structures using either the negative verb form with 'any' or a 'no' word. In each of these cases examples are given for both forms.The forms used have been explained above.
- No more / not ... any more
| She has thought of no more ideas. |
or |
She hasn't thought of any more ideas. |
| I have no more time today. |
or |
I don't have any more time today. |
| I'm meeting no one today. |
or |
I'm not meeting anyone today. |
| Alice has bought no one presents yet. |
or |
Alice hasn't bought anyone presents yet. |
- Nowhere / not ... anywhere
| Shelly has gone nowhere this year. |
or |
Shelly hasn't gone anywhere this year. |
| Alex has travelled nowhere outside of the USA. |
or |
Alex hasn't travelled anywhere outside of the USA. |
- Nobody / not ... anybody (same meaning as no one / not ....anyone)
| Susan saw nobody at work today. |
or |
Susan didn't see anyone at work today. |
| Tom bought nobody a present. |
or |
Tom didn't buy anyone a present. |
- Nothing / not ... anything
| I've eaten nothing all day. |
or |
I haven't eaten anything all done. |
| Doug talks about nothing with his friends. |
or |
Doug doesn't talk about anything with his friends. |
Neither or nor
Use the phrase 'neither ... nor' when expressing two negatives together.
Note that the verb is inverted after the use of 'nor'.
Examples:
| I have neither the time nor have I had the desire to do my work. |
| She has neither the time nor the money to help her friends. |
| Alex has neither the means nor does he have the ability to find a new job. |
