English Grammar

Negative structures

We make negative forms by putting not after an auxiliary verb.

• I do not smoke.
• He did not come.
• They are not expected to come.
• They have not been invited.
• She has not come.
• I cannot go.

Basic rules

1. Do is used if there is no other auxiliary verb. After do, we use the infinitive without to.

• Money brings you happiness. (assertive)
• Money does not bring you happiness. (negative)
• She came. (assertive)
• She did not come. (negative)

2. When be (is, am, are, was, were) is the main verb, we make negative forms by putting not after be.

• She is not ready.
• You are not late.
• I was not surprised.

3. When have is the main verb, we make negative forms by putting do not before have.

• They have a car. (assertive)
• They do not have a car. (negative)
• He has a good job. (assertive)
• He does not have a good job. (negative)

4. We use not before infinitives and -ing forms. Do is not used.

• It is important not to be late.
• The best thing about a computer is not complaining.

5. Besides not, there are also other words that can make a clause negative.

Compare:

• He is not at home.
• He is never at home.
• He is seldom/rarely/hardly ever at home.

Negative questions

Contracted and uncontracted negative questions have different word order.

Compare:

• Can't we wait? (auxiliary verb + n’t + subject – contracted)
• Won't she come? (auxiliary verb + n’t + subject – contracted)
• Can we not wait? (auxiliary verb + subject + not – uncontracted)
• Will she not come? (auxiliary verb + subject + not – uncontracted)

Contracted negative questions are less formal than uncontracted negative questions.