LoginNegation: Adverbs
In this lesson we learn about negating adverbs, exploring advanced sentence structures and their effects on the tone and meaning of descriptions. Clear explanations and practice exercises to help you learn.
What Are Negative Adverbs?
Negative adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs to negate or deny the truth of a statement.
Negative Adverbs
Negative adverbs express different degrees of negation. For example, while adverbs like "never" and "no longer" express absolute negation, others like "hardly", "barely", and "seldom" express approximate negation. In other words, from a semantic perspective, they do not show a completely negative, but close to negative meaning; however, from a grammatical perspective, they negate the sentence, meaning the verb cannot be negative when they are used. Some of the most common negative adverbs in English are:
never
hardly (ever)
scarcely
seldom
barely (ever)
no longer
little
They seldom speak.
the verb if affirmative
I hardly go out.
Negative Adverbs: Placement
The negative adverbs usually appear before main verbs or after an auxiliary or modal verb. If there is more than one modal and/or auxiliary verbs in the sentence, the negative adverb comes after the first modal or auxiliary. They can also come before adjectives to modify them. Look at the examples:
He barely passed the exam.
before the main verb
He could never have hurt anyone.
after the first modal verb
They are hardly noticeable.
before the adjective
However, in formal or literary contexts, these adverbs can also appear at the beginning of the sentence. When they are used in this position, the subject and verb are inverted.
Never had I been so upset.
at the beginning of the sentence, the sentence can also take the form "I had never been so upset"
Hardly had she left the school when it started to rain.
Adverbial Phrases
Some adverbial phrases can be used to express absolute negation in sentences. These phrases have similar properties to negative adverbs, meaning the verb remains affirmative and the subject and verb are inverted if they are used at the beginning of the sentence. However, the initial position is more common for these phrases than the middle position. For example:
under/in no circumstances
(in) no way
on no condition
at no time
on no account
They are on no condition to be allowed to leave.
The verb remains affirmative.
Under no circumstances are you to go out.
When the adverbial phrase comes at the beginning of the sentence, he verb and subject are inverted .
No way will we be finished by five o'clock.
Review
In addition to negating verbs and nouns, adverbs can negate sentences as well.
Here are some adverbs and adverbial phrases that can make the sentence negative.
hardly (ever) | little | never | scarcely | seldom |
barely (ever) | no longer | under/in no circumstances | (in) no way | on no condition |
Quiz:
Which sentence correctly places the negative adverb?
He is working no longer at the company.
She can seldom be found without a book.
Never they have missed a game.
We believe the results hardly.
Identify the sentence that correctly uses a negative adverb at the beginning.
Rarely she has seen such magnificent art.
Never have traveled they abroad before.
Barely had the concert begun when it started to rain.
Hardly we could believe the news.
Sort the words to make a correct sentence with a negative adverbial phrase.
Match each sentence fragment with the correct ending
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