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What is an English negative sentence? The structure of negative sentences in English

English negative sentences are frequently used in both written and spoken language. In English, negative sentences are used to "deny, refute something false, not true, express disagreement". In today's article, PREP will provide knowledge about the definition, how to form sentences, and common negative structures!

English negative sentences
English negative sentences

I. What is an English negative sentence?

First, let's learn about the definition and signal words of negative sentences in English with PREP!

1. Definition

What is an English negative sentence? A negative sentence is a sentence that contains words with negative meanings such as "not", "no", "never", or "nothing". Negative sentences often express the meaning of "not doing" or "not being". Here are some examples of negative sentences in English:

  • My sister does not like snakes. 
  • Henry is not handsome. 
  • I will never talk to that man again. 
What is an English negative sentence?
What is an English negative sentence?

2. Signal words

Signal words indicating negative sentences are: "not""no", "never", and “nothing". For example:

  • No one had gathered in the auditorium. 
  • There's nothing in the fridge. 

II. The structure of negative sentences in English

Here is a summary of the English negative sentences structure by PREP!

1. The structure of negative sentences in the 12 tenses of English

Let's learn about the structure of negative sentences in the 12 tenses of English with examples below!

12 tenses of English

Structure of English negative sentences

Examples

Present simple

  • Regular verbs: S + do/does + not + V-inf + (O)

Do not = don’t

Does not = doesn’t

  • To be: S + am/ is/ are + not + (O)

Is not = isn’t

Are not = aren’t

Malisa doesn’t usually go to spa. 

It is not my backpack. 

Present continuous tense

S + am/ is/ are + not + V-ing + (O)

Henry is not having breakfast right now. 

Present perfect tense

S +have/has + not + V3 + (O)

have not = haven’t

has not = hasn't

My friend hasn’t eaten anything since the morning. 

Present perfect continuous tense

S + have/ has + not + been + V-ing + (O)

Ms.Smith hasn’t been feeling well recently. 

Past simple tense

  • Regular verbs: S + did not + V-inf + (O)

Did not = didn’t

  • To be: S + was/ were + not + (O)

Was not = wasn’t

Were not = weren’t

Yesterday, I didn’t hang out with my friends. 

Last week, we were not in New York. 

Past continuous tense

S + was/were + not + V-ing + (O)

Matthew was not studying English at 9pm last night. 

Past perfect tense

S + had not + V3 + (O)

Had not = hadn’t

Linda hadn’t visited Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum before I recommended it to her. 

Past perfect continuous tense

S + had not + been + V-ing + (O)

hadn’t been meeting Phuong for 3 years until I ran into her at the coffee yesterday. 

Simple future tense

S + will not + V-inf + (O)

Will not = won’t

Lalisa won’t go to school next week. 

Future continuous tense

S + will not + be + Ving + (O)

This time next month, I  will not be working at this company.

Future perfect tense

S + will not + have + V3 + (O)

They will not have started  the party before you get there. 

Future perfect continuous tense

S + will not + have + been + V-ing + (O)

won’t have been playing games for 2 months by the end of December.

2. The structure of negative sentences with modal verbs

The structure of negative sentences with modal verbs
The structure of negative sentences with modal verbs

Let's learn about how to form negative sentences with modal verbs and examples below!

The structure of negative sentences with modal verbs:

S + modal verbs + not + V-inf (+ O)

Modal verbs

Example

Ability 

can/ could/ be able to

cannot attend the meeting tomorrow because I have a prior commitment. 

Advice 

must/ should/ ought to/ could

Robert should not eat too much junk food if he wants to stay healthy. 

Obligation and Necessity 

must/ have to/ need

You must not park your car in this area; it's reserved for employees only. 

Certainty and possibility 

will/ would/ may/ might/ can/ could

Chris might not be able to make it to the party, as he has a busy schedule that day. 

3. The structure of negative sentences with “Any, anybody, anyone, anything, anywhere”

The word "not" is not used in English negative sentences that begin with "some, someone, somebody, something, somewhere." We use "any, anyone, anybody, anything, anywhere" instead. For example:

  • There aren’t some seats left. ➞ ❌
  • There aren’t any seats left. Unfortunately, you’ll have to stand. ➞ ✅

After verbs with negative meanings such as: “decline/refuse”, we use “anything” instead of “something”. For example: Jerry refused to tell me anything about it. 

4. The structure of negative sentences with “no, not, never, none, nobody”

We can use negation words, phrases, or clauses, like "no, not, never, none, nobody,..." to express that something is incorrect. For example:

  • My mother has never been abroad. 
  • There were no newspapers left on the bookshelf by one o’clock. 
  • Nobody came to the apartment for several days. 
  • None of my cousins live near me. 

5. The structure of negative sentences with negative adverbs

At the beginning of the sentence, we use the negative adverbs "hardly, little, never, only, scarcely, and seldom" and invert the verb before the subject.

  • Hardly had Alan left the office when the rain started pouring.
  • Little did Peter know that we would never meet again. 

We can also reverse the subject and verb after "Not + prepositional phrase" or "Not + clause in the front position”. For example:

  • Not for a moment did Joe think she would be offered the job, so she was amazed when she got it. 
  • Not till I got home did I realize my key was missing. 
The structure of negative sentences with negative adverbs
The structure of negative sentences with negative adverbs

6. The structure of double negative sentences

In English, when using “nobody, nowhere, never or nothing”, we do not use negative verbs. For example:

  • Alex had nothing interesting to tell his girlfriend. ➞ ✅
  • Alex hadn’t nothing interesting to tell his girlfriend. ➞ ❌
  • It was 10 am but there was nobody in the class. ➞ ✅
  • It was 10 am but there wasn’t nobody in the class. ➞ ❌

Native people in some areas still use double negative structures in informal conversation, but this usage is not accepted in formal texts. For example:

Informal

Formal

Jennie couldn’t never work with nobody like that. 

Jennie couldn’t ever work with anybody like that. 

Jack never says nothing interesting to no one

Jack never says anything interesting to anyone

However, we can soften or lessen the meaning of the adjective by using not + negative prefixes (such as un-, in-) with adjectives and adverbs. The meaning of the word becomes affirmative which is often seen in formal texts. For example:

  • This year’s rise in inflation to 5% was not unexpected
  • The difference between the two results was not insignificant

7. Other structures of negative sentences in English

7.1. Negative questions

Negative sentences in English can be in the form of questions. For example:

  • What don’t you understand about the project? 
  • Won’t we be able to see the result? 
  • Isn’t that Lucas’s sister? 

7.2. Negative imperative sentences

We use “Do + not + V = Don't + V” to form negative imperative sentences. For example:

  • Do not close it until I tell you. 
  • Don’t take the bike. Go on your car. 

7.3. Negative sentences in non-finite clauses

Non-finite clauses are clauses without a subject, where the main verb is in the form of “to-infinitive, -ing, or -ed”. To negate a non-finite clause, we can use “not”. For example:

  • Not to have invited Jackson to our little party would have been impolite. 
  • Lenny left the house very quietly, not wishing to alarm anyone. 

7.4. Negative sentences with the purpose of emphasizing

When we want to emphasize something negative, we often use "at all". For example:

  • There’s nothing at all left in the fridge. 
  • We had no rain at all this summer and now we have floods. 

7.5. Negative sentences with negative prefixes and suffixes

We can also create negative words by adding prefixes “de-, dis-, il-/im-/in-/ir-, mis-, non-, un-,...” or suffix “-less”. For example:

  • Peter was very disrespectful to the teacher. 
  • This new phone is useless; it’s always breaking down. 

In addition, there are some common negative sentence structures in English. For example:

Structure

Example

Neither

Neither of

Neither … nor

Not … either

  • Neither parent came to meet the principal. 
  • Neither of us went to the meeting. 
  • Neither Singapore nor Thailand got to the quarter-finals last month. 
  • A: I didn’t see Lisa at the concert. 
  • B: I didn’t either

 

Neither do I

 

  • A: I hate spiders. I can’t even look at a picture of a spider. 
  • B: Neither can I
  • A: Mathew doesn't think he’ll be coming to the party. 
  • B: Neither do I

Not any

There aren’t any cookies left. They’ve eaten them all. 

I’m not sure

I’m not sure if this is the right person for me. 

I don’t think

Susan is not a teacher, I don’t think.I don’t think Susan is a teacher.) 

Refer to some more articles:

III. The differences between the negative sentences and the interrogative sentences

The differences between the negative sentences and the interrogative sentences
The differences between the negative sentences and the interrogative sentences

Let's distinguish between the negative sentences and the interrogative sentences in English with some examples below!

 

Meaning

Example

Negative sentence

  • The negative sentence in English is used to express the meaning of "not doing/ not being something".
  • Negative sentences often have "not".

don’t like Maths. 

Interrogative sentence

  • The interrogative sentence is used to ask for the opinions of others and usually requires a response from the others.
  • Has a question mark at the end of the sentence.
  • With the Yes/No question, the auxiliary verbs will be inverted at the beginning of the sentence, before the subject, and the answer will be Yes (affirmative) or No (negative).
  • A: Do you like Maths? 
  • B: No, I don’t. 

IV. Exercise on negative sentences in English

Let's complete 2 exercises below to have a deeper understanding of negative sentences in English!

1. Exercise

Exercise 1: Complete the sentences with verbs in negative form.

  1. Micro______(not read) books in the morning.
  2. The children______(not visit) the museum last week.
  3. Students______(not play) soccer at the moment.
  4. My sister______(not study) when I called at 8pm last night.
  5. Anna______(not visit) her grandmother next week.

Exercise 2: Write the correct form of the words in parentheses with negative meaning.

  1. She's feeling very (happy) about the situation.
  2. The neighbor was (unfriend) and never greeted us.
  3. It would be (responsible) to ignore these warnings.
  4. The weather turned (pleasant) with heavy rain and strong winds.
  5. The report contained (accurate) information, which caused confusion.

2. Answer

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

  1. does not read
  2. did not visit
  3. are not playing
  4. was not studying
  5. will not visit
  1. unhappy 
  2. unfriendly 
  3. irresponsible 
  4. unpleasant 
  5. inaccurate 

PREP hopes that this article can provide you with additional knowledge regarding the usage, structure, and meaning of negative sentences. PREP hopes that you will gain more practical English knowledge.

CEO Tú Phạm
Master Tu Pham
Founder/CEO at Prep
Mr. Tú Phạm is the founder of PREP, a Smart Test Preparation Platform. With over 10 years of teaching and test preparation experience, he has assisted thousands of students in achieving high scores on the IELTS exam. Additionally, Mr. Tú Phạm serves as a consultant for British Council programs and as a speaker at numerous premier education events, programs, and seminars.
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