When we want to say that something is not true or is not the case, we can use negative words, phrases or clauses. Negation can happen in a number of ways, most commonly, when we use a negative word such asno,not, never, none,nobody, etc:
A:Is there a bus at ten o’clock?
B:No.The last one goes at nine forty-five. (No= There isn’t a bus at ten o’clock.)
Kieran doesn’tplay the piano.(It is not true that Kieran plays the piano.)
The most common negative words arenoandnot. Other negative wordsinclude:
neither, never, no one, nobody, none, nor, nothing, nowhere:
She’sneverbeen abroad.
There werenonewspapers left in the shop by one o’clock.
Nobodycame to the house for several days.
Noneof my cousins live near us.
Most children don’twalk to school any more.
See also:
Neither, neither … norandnot … either
So am I,so do I,Neither do I
Neverornot … ever?
No one,nobody,nothing,nowhere
No,noneandnone of
Not anyandno
We can also make negative meanings using prefixes (e.g.de-,dis-,un-) and suffixes (-less):
He was verydisrespectfulto the teacher.
This new printer isuseless; it’s always breaking down.
We can also use the following words to make negative or negative-like statements:
few, hardly, little, rarely, scarcely, seldom.
There arerarelyducks in this pond.
Weseldomhear any noise at night.
See also:
Little,a little,few,a few
Hardly
Hardly ever,rarely,scarcely,seldom
Scarcely
Negation is more common in spoken than in written language because negative forms can be used in face-to-face interactions to make what we say less direct:
I’m not sureif this is the right desk. I’m looking for information on the train times to Liverpool.(less direct thanIs this the right desk?)
See also:
Hedges (just)
Politeness
Forming negative statements, questions and imperatives
Negative statements
We form negative statementswithnotorn’tafterbe, modal and auxiliary verbs.n’tis the contracted form ofnot. In informal language we can addn’t, without a space, tobe, to modal verbs (exceptmay) and to auxiliary verbs (doandhave). The negative contracted form ofwilliswon’t. The uncontracted form ofcan+notiscannot.
Janisn’tcoming. She’s not feeling very well.
Shemight notbe joking. It could be true.
Theydon’tgo to school on Wednesday afternoons.
Living in a small flatdoes notmake it easy to have pets.
Ihadn’tdecided whether to take the train or go in the car.
Theycan’tbe hungry again. They’ve only just eaten.
Negative questions
We usenotorn’tto form negative questions. When there is no modal verb orbe, we use auxiliary verbdo+n’t(don’t, do not, doesn’t, does not, didn’t):
Whydidn’tyou ask Linda?
Whatdon’tyou understand?
Won’twe able to see the film?
Isn’tthat Mike’s brother?
Negative imperatives
We usedo + notordon’t+ the base form of a verb to form negative orders or commands:
Do notopen until instructed.
Don’ttake the car. Go on your bike.
See also:
Declarative clauses
Notandn’tin questions (Did younot…?Wasn’t she…?)
Don’t, Do not: orders and instructions
Let’s,let: suggestions, offers, imperatives
Negation: two negatives
Standard English does not have two negatives in the same clause (double negatives). Words such asnever, nobody, no one, none, nothing, nowhere, etc. already have a negative meaning, so we don’t need another negative with the verb:
There wasno onein the office so I left a message.
Not:There wasn’t no one…
Nobodylikes to think they are worthless.
Not:Nobody doesn’t like to think…
If we usenotwith the verb, we use words such asever,anybody,anyone,anything,anywhere, instead ofnever,nobody,no one,nothing,nowhere:
Ihaven’tseen Kenanywheretoday. In fact Idon’tthinkanyone’sseen him for the last couple of days.
Not:I haven’t seen Ken nowhere… orI don’t think no one’s seen him…
You may hear some speakers using two negatives in the same clause, but many people consider this to be incorrect.
Not … I don’t think
There are some cases where we can use reporting verbs such asimagine, supposeandthinkin end position, after the reported clause. In such cases, both clauses may have a negative verb:
He’snota teacher, Idon’tthink.(orIdon’t thinkhe’s a teacher.)
Not:I don’t think he’s not a teacher.
Iwon’tbe very late tonight, Ishouldn’timagine.(orIshouldn’t imagineI’ll be very late tonight.)
Not:I shouldn’t imagine I won’t be late.
Sometimes we usenotin front position where a following reduced clause (a clause with something omitted but which is understood) also has a negative form:
A:Have you seen Leila?
B:Nottoday, I haven’t. (I haven’t seen Leila/her.)
A:Is Tony working at the university?
B:Notnow, he isn’t.He used to.
Negative clauses withany,anybody,anyone,anything,anywhere
We don’t usenotwithsome,someone,somebody,something,somewherein statements. We useany,anyone,anybody,anything,anywhere:
There aren’tanyseats left. You’ll have to stand.
Not:There aren’t some seats left.
Tell them Idon’twant to seeanyone.
Not:Tell them I don’t want to see someone.
After verbs with a negative meaning likedeclineorrefuse, we useanythingrather thansomething:
They refused to tell usanythingabout it.(preferred toThey refused to tell us something about it.)
See also:
Any
Anyone,anybodyoranything?
Negation in non-finite clauses
Non-finite clauses are clauses without a subject, where the main verb is in theto-infinitive form, the -ingform or the-edform. To make the negative of a non-finite clause, we can usenot.
affirmative non-finite clause | negative non-finite clause |
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In non-finite clauses with ato-infinitive verb, we can usenotafterto. However, many speakers consider such ‘split infinitives’ (where something comes betweentoand the verb) to be bad style:
To not realisewhat was happening was stupid. She should have noticed something was wrong.(orNot to realisewhat was happening …)
I was thinking it would be niceto not havetogo out and just stay in and watch TV.(or …it would be nicenot to havetogo out …)
Negative prefixes and suffixes
We use these prefixes most commonly in negation:de-,dis-,il-/im-/in-/ir-,mis-,non-,un-:
What he said was veryimpolite.
There was amisunderstanding about who should sign the contract.
The refugees also neednon-food items such as tents and blankets.(items which are not food)
-lessis the most common suffix for negation:
Too many people are homelessin this city.
We just have endlessmeetings at work – they’re so boring.
See also:
Prefixes
Suffixes
Negative adverbs:hardly, seldom, etc.
Some adverbs (e.g.hardly,little,never,only,scarcelyandseldom) have a negative meaning. When we use these at the beginning of theclause, we invert the subject and verb:
Hardlyhad we left the hotel when it started to pour with rain.
Not:Hardly we had left the hotel…
Littledid we know that we would never meet again.
Onlyin spring do we see these lovely little flowers.
We also invert the subject and verb afternot+ a prepositional phrase ornot+ a clause in front position:
Notfor a moment did I think I would be offered the job, so I was amazed when I got it.
Nottill I got home did I realise my wallet was missing.
See also:
Inversion
Word order and focus
Little,a little,few,a few
Hardly
Hardly ever,rarely,scarcely,seldom
Negation: emphasising
When we want to emphasise something negative, we often useat all. We normally useat allimmediately after the word or phrase we are emphasising:
There’snothingat allleft in the fridge.
I’d rathernotbe hereat all.
We hadnorainat allthis summer and now we have floods!
Not at allcan come before an adjective:
She wasnot at allhappy with the result.
See also:
All
We can also usewhatsoeverfor emphasis afterno +noun,nobody, no one, noneandnothing. Its meaning is similar toat all, but it is stronger. We can usewhatsoeverto add emphasis to any negative noun phrase:
Nofood or drinkwhatsoevermust be brought into the classroom.
A:Did any of her family go to the wedding?
B:No.None whatsoever.
We can also usenot a bit,a little bit,one bit,in the least,the least bitto emphasise negatives:
Setting off the alarm was supposed to be a joke butno onefound itone bitfunny.
We suggested going to the cinema but they didn’tseemthe least bitinterested, so we just took them shopping instead.
See also:
A bit
We often add emphasis to negation to make what we say more polite. When someone makes a request using the phraseDo you mind iforWould you mind if, instead of replying withNo(I don’t mind) we often saynot at allornot in the leastwhen we reply:
A:Do you mind if I sit here?
B:Not at all.
A:Would you mind if I check my emails on your computer?
B:Not in the least.
When someone saysthanksorthank you, we often replynot at all:
A:Thanks so much for lunch, Rachel.
B:Not at all.It was my pleasure.
See also:
Politeness
Requests
Pleaseandthank you
Negation ofthink,believe,suppose,hope
When we use verbs likethink, believe, suppose(mental process verbs) to express uncertainty about something, we usually usenotwith the mental process verb rather than with the verb in the following clause:
Idon’t thinkI’m going to pass my exams.(preferred toI think I’m not going to pass my exams.)
However, we don’t normally use a negative withhopeandwish:
IhopeI’mnotgoing to fail.
Not:I don’t hope I’m going to fail.
IwishI hadn’tsent that email to Joan.
Not:I don’t wish I had sent…
See also:
Soandnotwithexpect,hope,think, etc.
Noornot?