Negation
Nois the opposite of yes. It is used as a negative response to a ques-
tion. But there are other negative forms in English as well.
Simple negationoccurs by placing notafter the conjugated verb in
a sentence. It is important to remember that it is the conjugated
verb that determines the location of notand not the other verbal
forms that may also be in a sentence.He is notat home today.
We do notwant to buy a car at this time.
Marianne has notresponded to my letter.If the sentence is in the form of a question, notstands behind the
subject:
Can you notunderstand?
How could he nothave helped us?
Will Martin notshare his good fortune?But in the case of a contraction with not, the two parts of the con-
traction are never separated. This is true whether the sentence is a
statement or a question:He isn’tat home today. Can’tyou understand?
We don’twant to buy a car. Why couldn’the help us?
She hasn’tanswered yet. Won’tMartin share with us?If the negated verb is not to be, to have, or other auxiliary (can,
should, must, etc.), the negation is formed from the present or past
tense of do, depending upon the tense of the verb:
I am not I do not speak
she has not she doesn’t learn
you shouldn’t you did not understand
he can’t he didn’t worryCertain other negative words have two forms. One form begins
with no-(except for neverand neither), and the other consists of not
followed by another word. When these words are not negative, they
have a special positive form that often uses the word some. Look at
the varieties that exist:
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06 (099-132B) Units 20-25 11/3/04 1:42 PM Page 115
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