Making of Negative Statements



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Making of Negative Statements :



We form negative statements by putting NOT or N’T after an auxiliary verb.

1. He is not reading.
2. The room was not cleaned.
3. I have not finished the work yet.
4. Ostriches cann’t fly.
5. You shouldn’t write on desks.
6. He won’t listen to us.
7. She may not go to the party.
8. He won’t listen to me.

Note these short forms.

Cannot = can’t
Will not = won’t

We cannot say AMN’T.

The short form N’T cannot be used with AM.

We say…I’m not…

The verb BE (am / is / are / was / were) comes before NOT or N'T even when used as an ordinary verb.

1. I’m not in a hurry.
2. She wasn't at home when I phoned.
3. They were not courteous.
4. You aren’t careful enough.

If there are two or more auxiliaries, we put NOT / N’T after the first one.

1. She may not have gone to the party.
2. The accident wouldn’t have happened if he had been careful.
3. The function isn’t being videoed.
4. You shouldn’t have bought it.
5. The tickets may have been sold out.

In the simple present tense (e.g. I speak, he speaks) and simple past tense (e.g. I spoke), there is no auxiliary verb, so we use do / does and did.

They repair TVs.
They don’t repair TVs.

He repairs TVs.
He doesn't repair TVs.

He repaired the TV.
He didn’t repair the TV.

NOTE

The verb after NOT / N’T does not end in S or ED.

DO NOT say….

He doesn’t works.
They didn’t worked.

Notice the negative forms of have / have not and had

She has an ipad.
She doesn’t have an ipad.

She has got an ipad.
She hasn’t got an ipad.

They have a car.
They don’t have a car.

They had a car.
They didn’t have a car.



Making of Negative Statements



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