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Using not, auxiliary verbs and do-support to form negative sentences.
Negative sentences state that a proposition is not true, does not happen, or does not exist.
English commonly expresses negation with not or with negative words such as no, nobody, nothing, and never.
The negative particle not normally follows a finite form of be.
For example, She is not ready, They were not invited, and I am not tired.
Not normally follows the first auxiliary in a verb phrase.
For example, She has not finished, They are not waiting, and He will not come.
When there is no auxiliary in the present or past simple, do, does, or did is used with not.
For example, I do not know, She does not work here, and They did not leave.
After do, does, or did in a negative simple clause, the lexical verb normally appears in its base form.
For example, She does not work here and They did not go, not She does not works or They did not went.
Modal verbs form negatives by taking not directly after the modal.
For example, cannot, should not, must not, might not, and would not.
Cannot is normally written as one word in standard English when it means not be able to.
For example, I cannot swim and She cannot attend the meeting.
Must not expresses prohibition, while do not have to expresses absence of necessity.
For example, You must not touch this means it is prohibited, while You do not have to come means coming is optional.
Need not and do not need to can both express lack of necessity, with differences in register and construction.
For example, You need not wait is more formal than You do not need to wait.
Negative auxiliaries commonly form contractions in ordinary spoken and informal written English.
Examples include isn't, aren't, wasn't, weren't, don't, doesn't, didn't, haven't, hasn't, won't, and wouldn't.
Full negative forms can sound more formal, emphatic, or deliberate than contracted forms.
For example, I do not agree can sound more emphatic than I don't agree.
Passive constructions form negatives by placing not after the first auxiliary.
For example, The report was not finished and The package has not been delivered.
Perfect constructions form negatives by placing not after have, has, or had.
For example, She has not arrived and They had not finished before the deadline.
Progressive constructions form negatives by placing not after the appropriate form of be.
For example, She is not working and They were not waiting.
Future constructions with will form negatives with will not or won't.
For example, I will not come and They won't agree.
Be going to forms negatives by placing not after the appropriate form of be.
For example, I am not going to leave and She is not going to apply.
Negative imperatives commonly use do not or don't followed by the base form of the verb.
For example, Don't touch that and Do not open the door.
Negative infinitives are normally formed with not before to + base verb.
For example, I decided not to go and She tried not to laugh.
A gerund can be negated by placing not before the -ing form.
For example, He left without not saying anything is incorrect; He avoided not speaking is grammatically possible but marked, while not speaking is the straightforward negative form.
Not can negate adjective and adverb phrases when used with an appropriate verb or auxiliary.
For example, She is not happy and He did not speak clearly.
Not can be used with noun phrases in specific constructions to reject or contrast an identification or classification.
For example, He is not a doctor and This is not the problem.
Not ... but can contrast two alternatives by rejecting one description or option and identifying another.
For example, It was not John but Mary who called.
Not yet states that an expected event has not happened up to the present time but may happen later.
For example, She has not arrived yet.
Not anymore and no longer indicate that a situation which was previously true is no longer true.
For example, I do not live there anymore and She no longer works here.
Not can negate one part of a pair or alternative without necessarily making every component negative.
For example, I do not want both means I do not want the two together, while I do not want either means I want neither.
The position of not can affect which part of a sentence is being negated or contrasted.
For example, I did not only complain can have a different interpretation from I only did not complain.
Not all and not every express partial rather than total negation.
For example, Not all students passed means some students passed and some did not.
Negative statements can be followed by expressions such as neither do I and nor did he to express agreement.
For example, I do not like it. Neither do I.
Negative constructions with have depend on whether have is an auxiliary or lexical verb.
For example, I have not finished uses auxiliary have, while I do not have a car commonly uses do-support for possession.
Negative used to is commonly formed with did not use to in contemporary English.
For example, I did not use to live here.
An embedded clause can be negated independently from the main clause.
For example, I think he is not ready differs from I do not think he is ready in scope and meaning.
The position of not can affect whether the main verb or the infinitive proposition is negated.
For example, I decided not to go directly negates the infinitive action.
Full negative forms, auxiliary repetition, and special constructions can give negation additional emphasis.
For example, I did not say that can emphasize the denial compared with a neutral I didn't say that.
Some words and expressions are especially natural in negative, interrogative, or conditional environments.
For example, any, ever, and at all commonly occur in negative contexts such as I do not have any and I have not ever seen it.
Form negation by selecting the appropriate auxiliary, placing not correctly, and avoiding unintended double negatives or incorrect verb forms.
Common mistakes include using do with be or modals, keeping the past form after did not, confusing must not with do not have to, and placing not where it changes the intended scope.