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NEGATIVE SENTENCES.
Sentences can be divided into two primary groups – Affirmative or Positive, and
Negative sentences.
AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES
An affirmative sentence simply states something. It is any declaration that is positive.
An affirmative sentence expresses the validity of truth of an assertion.
NEGATIVE SENTENCES
A sentence is usually made negative in English by placing the adverb ‘not’ after the
finite verb. Such verbs are:
Be – (is/am/ are/ was/were)
Have – (has/ had)
Can – (could)
Shall – (should)
Will – (would)
May – (might)
Must
Ought
How to make sentences negative:
1. The verb ‘be’:
We put not after the various forms of the verb ‘be’.
Affirmative – He is working.
Negative – He is not working.
In case of ‘will be’ and ‘shall be’, we put ‘not’ after ‘will’ and ‘shall.’
Will be – will not be, shall be – shall not be.
The verb ‘Have’ (has, had)
I have a pen. I have no pen.
I do not have a pen.
I don’t have a pen.
She has a pen. She has no pen.
She does not have a pen.
She doesn’t have a pen.
She had a pen. She had no pen
She did not have a pen.
She didn’t have a pen.
Verb made of two or more words:
We put not after the first word.
She is painting. She is not painting.
He should take a break. He should not take a break.
Simple Present Tense
We use either do not or does not with the root form of the
verb. I eat fruit daily. I do not eat fruit daily.
She eats fruit daily. She does not eat fruit daily.
[ he/ she / it – does] [ I/ you /we / they – do]
Is not Isn’t
Do not don’t
Cannot can’t
AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE
I am a boy. I am (I’m) not a boy.
She was late yesterday. She was not wasn’t late yesterday.
They may help us. They may not (mayn’t) help us.
They ought to help her. They ought not (oughtn’t) help her.
The last two Questions have been framed using Question tags.
QUESTION TAGS
Question tags are short questions added to the end of a sentence. A positive statement
has a negative question tag and a negative statement has a positive question tag.