What Are Negative Pro-forms?
Negative pro-forms are used when we want to refer to an absence (non-existence) of people, things, or places.
Negative Words
Tip!
There are some uncommon negative words that are seldom used. Here is the list:
- nowhence (adverb of source)
- nowhither (adverb of purpose)
- nowhen (adverb of time)
- nowise (adverb of manner)
Negative Words in Positive Statements
Negative words are inherently negative, that is why they do not need another negative maker in a sentence. We use 'no one, nobody, nothing, and nowhere' with a singular verb.
I knocked on the door but
I have
Negative Words in Negative Statements
Do not use another negative word such as 'not' after negative words.
✗ didn't come. →
You shouldn't smoke nowhere
Negative Words: Number
We cannot use 'of' after nobody. We use 'none of' when talking about a group of people.
Nobody of them saw him. →
When we want to talk about two people, we use neither (of).
We use 'none of' before a plural noun or pronoun and a singular verb.
None of us
In informal English, we often use a plural verb after none of.
None of us
Negative Words in Questions
We cannot use negative words in questions.
Is nobody
Does noone
Has he never
When we use nothing and nobody, the sentence is positive, but the meaning of the statement is negative. So, we need to use positive question tags:
There's nothing new about this,