Negative Pro-forms

In this lesson we learn about negative pro-forms, which are essential parts of a sentence that substitute for negative words or phrases. Clear explanations and practice exercises to help you learn.

negative pro-forms neither no no one nobody none nothing pro-forms

What Are Negative Pro-forms?

Negative pro-forms are used to talk about the absence (non-existence) of people or things.

Negative Pro-forms: Types

The English no-series words and some other words are considered inherently negative (also called inherent negative universal), which means they can make a sentence negative on their own.

Determiner	Pronoun	Adverb
no	nobody	nowhere (place)
neither	no one	never (time)
none of	nothing	no way (manner)
	none
	neither

Tip!

There are some uncommon negative words that are rarely 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 an affirmative singular verb. For example:

Nobody came.

Nothing happens in this town.

I knocked on the door but no one answered.

I have nowhere to live.

Negative Words in Negative Statements

Since the negative pro-forms are inherently negative, they negate the whole sentence and using another negative marker in the same sentence would form a double negative which is grammatically unacceptable.

✗ Nobody ~~didn't~~ come. → Nobody came.

✗ You shouldn't smoke ~~nowhere~~ in the building. → You shouldn't smoke anywhere in the building.

Negative Pro-forms in Questions

Negative pro-forms are not used in questions. Instead non assertive pro-forms are used to form interrogatives.

Is ~~nobody~~ here? → Is anybody here?

Does no ~~one~~ know the answer? → Does anyone know the answer?

When negative-pro-forms are used in a sentence, the verb remains positive, but the overall meaning of the clause becomes negative. So, the question tag must be positive.

There's nothing new about this, is it?

Negative Words: Agreement

Negative pro-forms are considered singular and accordingly take singular verbs.
'Neither" can be used as a pronoun or a determiner to refer to two people or things. In both cases it is followed by a singular verb. When it is used as a determiner, the following noun must also be singular.

I can think of two solutions, but neither is going to work.

Neither reason justifies the decision.

'No' and 'None of' are also negative determiners, but the difference between them is that 'no' is followed by a singular noun and singular verb while 'none of takes a plural noun or pronoun and a singular verb.

No man is able to escape the consequences of his actions.

None of us is able to escape the consequences of our actions.

In informal English, a plural verb might be used after 'none of'.

None of us care what happens to him.

Quiz:

Which sentence correctly uses a negative pro-form?

Nobody didn't see the accident.

No one answered the phone when I called.

You shouldn’t go nowhere without telling me.

Does no one have a pen?

Sort the words to form a sentence with a negative pro-form.

could

justify

excuse

meeting

the

behavior

his

Match each incomplete sentence with the correct ending based on agreement of negative pro-forms.

I called John and Mark,

I have no

None of

Despite the reminders, no one

neither picked up.

attended the meeting

the books are good.

idea what you are talking about.

Fill the blanks with the appropriate negative pro-form. (There are two extra options.)

knew the answer to the question.

the options seemed reasonable.

I have

to say about the matter.

word could express his feelings.

In the chaos of the conflict, there was

to hide.

no one

none of

nothing

nowhere

no way

none

Which sentence contains a mistake in using a negative pro-form?

No one has ever done this before.

I have nowhere to go after the event.

None of student knew the answer.

Nobody came to the party.

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What Are Negative Pro-forms?
Negative Pro-forms: Types
Negative Words in Positive Statements
Negative Words in Negative Statements
Negative Pro-forms in Questions
Negative Words: Agreement

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Assertive Pro-forms

An assertive pro-form is a type of word that stands in for another word, phrase, clause, or sentence where the truth of a positive statement is asserted.

Non-assertive Pro-forms

Non-assertive Pro-forms refer to a group of words or phrases that refer to specific things/persons, but it is not important to mention what.

Universal Pro-forms

Universal pro-forms are special function words or expressions to refer to the total number of something. In this lesson, you will learn more about them.

Alternative Pro-forms

Alternative means 'choice.' When we have many choices, we talk about one, another, and the other. These words signal the alternatives.

Honorifics and Titles

We may not know what we are using but in everyday English, we use many words that help us be more polite. In this article, we will take a look at these titles.

Parts of Speech

A part of speech is any grammatical group, such as noun, verb, and adjective, into which words are classified based on their use.

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