What Is Negation in Verbs and Clauses?
To negate the clauses or sentences the best thing to do is to negate the verbs. In this lesson, you will learn how to make negative verbs and as a result, you can easily negate a clause.
Negation with 'Not'
The most common way to negate a statement is by using 'not' or n't after verbs.
I
I
Tip
n't is the contracted form of not. There is no space between the verb and n't.
Be + Not
'Be' is one of the most common verbs in the English language, so it seems logical that we start by learning how to negate it.
| Be | Be in Negative |
|---|---|
| am |
am |
| is |
is |
| are |
are |
| was |
was |
| were |
were |
Tip
As you can see from the table above, the verb 'be' in the first person form 'am' cannot be written in the contracted form. So, never write amn't.
He
Sean
With 'is' and 'are' there are two possible negative statements, 's not or isn't and 're not or aren't. The forms 's not and 're not are more common after pronouns; isn't and aren't are more common after noun phrases:
Do + Not
The second most common auxiliary verb in the English language is 'do.' Let's see its different forms and how they can form a negation.
| Do | Do in Negative |
|---|---|
| do |
do |
| does |
does |
| did |
did |
I
I
Have + Not
'Have' is another common verb. Like the other two, it can be used both as a main verb and an auxiliary verb. We can negate it by putting 'not' after it.
| Have | Have in Negative |
|---|---|
| have |
have |
| has |
has |
| had |
had |
Amelia
I
Modals + Not
All modal verbs can be negated by adding not (or n't) after them. However, there is some exceptions to this rule. For example, you cannot use the contracted form of not with the modal verb 'may' and 'shall.' In the table below, you can see the list of those modal verbs that do not regularly take 'not.'
| Modal | Modal in negative |
|---|---|
| can |
can |
| may |
may |
| shall |
shall |
| will |
will |
| ought to |
ought |
You
I
Tip
Do you see in the first example that we have two auxiliary verbs: one is should and the other is have. Note that when this happens, always put 'not' after the first verb. See another example:
I
negating the verb using the auxiliary 'do' + 'not'
Negative Questions
We use not or n't to form negative questions:
- 1. When there is a modal verb or be, we use not or n't to form negative questions;
- 2. When there is no modal verb or be, we use auxiliary verb do + n't.
Negative Imperatives
In order to make a negative order or command (imperatives), use this structure:
do + not/don't + the base form of the verb
Important Rule: Do Not Negate a Verb Directly
Remember that you cannot negate the main verb directly. You must use an auxiliary. Take a look at this example:
I
In order to negate it, you cannot say:
I haven't a sister.
or:
I not have a sister.
The only correct way is using an auxiliary verb:
I
Negative Non-finite Clauses
Non-finite clauses are clauses where the main verb is in the to-infinitive form, the -ing form, or the -ed form. The negative forms of non-finite clauses are made by putting not before them.
The best thing about vacations is
She didn't say anything,
Tip
With to-infinitive clauses, we can also use 'not' after to. However, it is not recommended. Many consider this 'split infinitive' to be unacceptable grammatically.
Review
To negate a sentence we are forced to add 'not' to its auxiliary verb. If a sentence has only an auxiliary verb what you do is to add 'not' directly to the auxiliary. But if there is a main verb you are forced to use (do, does, did) as an auxiliary before the main verb to be allowed to add 'not' to auxiliary (do, does, did) and negate the whole sentence.
Here are some examples for negation
Jacob
Justin and Julian
Katherine
His mother
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