Not

We form negative declarative clauses withnotafterbe(she is not talking), after modal verbs (they must not go) and after auxiliary verbsdoandhave(we did not like it; they have not eaten).

In informal situations, we addn’ttobe, modal verbs and auxiliary verbsdoandhave. There is no space between the verb andn’t:

She isn’tworried about it, is she?

We can’twalk. It’s too far. I’ll take the car.

Although he doesn’tknow much Chinese, he is fluent in French, German, and Italian.

I haven’tseen Peter for ages.

We don’t usen’twithamandmay:

I’mnotallowed to go out this evening.

Not:I amn’t allowed to… (amn’tis common in Irish and Scots English, however.)

Wemay notsee you later. We have to leave early.

Not:We mayn’t see you later.

Withisandarethere are two possible negative statements,’s notorisn’tand’renotoraren’t. The forms’s notand’re notare more common after pronouns;isn’tandaren’tare more common after noun phrases:

The girlsaren’there yet. They’renotcoming until later.

The programmeisn’tready. It’s notprinted yet.(orThe programme’snotready yet.)

In questions and question tags we usearen’twithI:

Aren’t Ilucky?

I’m right,aren’t I?

We use the full formnotfor more formal writing or for emphasis:

It hadnotbeen an easy year.

He wasnotsorry and he is not ashamed.

The Lady Jinneth went out riding alone this afternoon, and she hasnotyet come back.

We usenotorn’tto form negative questions:

Why haven’tyou eaten anything?

Couldn’the pay someone to help him with the garden?

Wasn’tit Cath’s party last night?

Weren’tyou listening?

When there is no modal verb or auxiliary verb orbe, we use auxiliary verbdo+n’tordo+not(don’t, do not, doesn’t, does not, didn’t, did not):

Why didn’tyou go?

Don’tthose two go to school together?

Questions withnotinstead ofn’tsound more formal or give more emphasis. We putnotafter the subject.

We usedon’t+the base form of the verb ordo + not+ the base form of the verb to make negative imperatives. We use these to give orders, instructions or commands.Do notis stronger and much more formal:

Don’tbe an idiot!

Don’topen the oven door until the cake is cooked.

[on an envelope containing photos]

PHOTOS:DO NOTBEND

Donotturn off your computer without shutting down properly.

We usedon’t + youin informal speaking to make the order stronger:

We’re getting divorced.Don’t youdare tell anyone!

We can usedon’tlet’sorlet’s notfor first person plural imperatives (us) to make suggestions:

Don’t let’sgo out.(orLet’snotgo out.)

We can use the short formdon’tas an imperative answer or reaction to something:

A:

Shall I ask Mum to help?

B:

No,don’t. She’s too tired. (No, don’t ask Mum to help us.)

We usenotin negative short replies with mental process verbs (e.g.be afraid, guess, hope):

A:

Will I see you tomorrow, Harry?

B:

Oh, Alice,I’m afraid not.

A:

Will he have to go back into hospital?

B:

I hope not.

A:

Aren’t you coming with us?

B:

I guess not.Rosie’s not keen.

Withthink, we usually useI don’t think sorather thanI think not, which is much more formal and rare:

A:

Is it going to rain?

B:

I don’t think so.

In short replies toyes-noquestions, we usenotafter adverbs likeprobably, maybe, certainlyto express degrees of certainty:

A:

Do you think she’ll remember to come at five instead of six?

B:

Probably not.

We often usenotafterbutto express a contrast. We often leave out the verb phrase or part of it in the second clause:

You can look butnottouch.(You can look but you can’t touch.)

Write the instructions in capitals butnotin bold.(Write the instructions in capitals but don’t write them in bold.)

There were a few problems butnottoo many.(There were a few problems but there weren’t too many problems.)

We usenotbefore an-ingclause in more formal styles:

Notknowingwhat to say, she started to walk towards the door.

Notbeingheard or listened to is something that elderly people can find frightening.

She didn’t want to admit tonotknowing what the Emerald Isle was.(‘The Emerald Isle’ is another name for Ireland.)

We usenotto negate ato-infinitive clause. We can usenotbefore or afterto, but some people consider ‘split infinitives’ (whennotcomes betweentoand the verb) to be incorrect:

She triednotto offend people.

… she wanted to stay for a long time, tonotthink, tonotbe afraid, tonotbe so, so lonely.

We can useor notin questions to ask about a range of possibilities:

Are they coming todayor not?

We sometimes use it to force someone to make a decision:

Are you going to apologise to meor not?(Are you going to apologise to me or are you not going to apologise to me?)

Do you want to hear this storyor not?

We often useor notafteriforwhetherto express a contrast in expectation:

He always spoke the truthwhetherit was popularor not.