How to use Negative forms in English
Inside this video, we want to discuss Negative forms in English with all English grammar tenses Are you prepared? Please see this video and you’ll thank me later!
We make negative the sentences using not.
We use not (n’t) in negative sentences:
| Positive | Negative | Short | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Am | I am not | I’m not | I’m not busy. |
| Is | He is not | He isn’t | He’s not tired |
| Are | We are not | We aren’t | We aren’t with you. |
| Was | It was not | It wasn’t | It wasn’t raining. |
| Were | You were not | You weren’t | The shops weren’t open |
| Have | I have not | I haven’t | I haven’t finished my work. |
| Has Had | She has not She had not | She hasn’t She hadn’t | Mary hasn’t got a car. Mary hadn’t got a car. |
| Will Shall | We will not I shall not | We won’t I shan’t | We won’t be here tomorrow. I shan’t be here tomorrow. |
| Can | He cannot | He can’t | Sami can’t drive. |
| Could | We could not | We couldn’t | We couldn’t sleep last night. |
| Must May | I must not I may not | I mustn’t I mayn’t | I mustn’t forget to phone Jane. I mayn’t forget to phone Jane. |
| Should Might | You should not You might not | You shouldn’t You mightn’t | You shouldn’t work so hard. You mightn’t work so hard. |
| Would | I would not | I wouldn’t | I wouldn’t like to be an actor. |
| Do | Do not | Don’t | I don’t live in London. |
| Does | Does not | Doesn’t | She doesn’t speak Arabic. |
| Did | Did not | Didn’t | We didn’t study well yesterday. |
Practice Negative forms in English with examples:
| Positive | Negative |
|---|---|
| We play football every day. | We don’t play football every day. |
| He lives in Cambridge. | He doesn’t live in Cambridge. |
| The shop opens on Fridays. | The shop doesn’t open on Fridays. |
| I want to go out. | I don’t want to go out. |
| They work hard. | They don’t work hard. |
| Lisa plays the guitar. | Lisa doesn’t play the guitar. |
| My father likes his job. | My father doesn’t like his job. |
| I got up early this morning. | I didn’t get up early this morning. |
| They worked hard yesterday. | They didn’t work hard yesterday. |
| We played tennis. | We didn’t play tennis. |
| Emily had dinner with us. | Emily didn’t have dinner with us. |
| Do something! | Don’t do anything! |
| Sue does a lot at weekends. | Sue doesn’t do much at weekends. |
| I did what you said. | I didn’t do what you said. |
| He’s gone away. | He hasn’t gone away. |
| They’re married. | They aren’t married / They’re not married. |
| I’ve had dinner. | I haven’t had dinner |
| It’s cold today. | It isn’t cold today. |
| We’ll be late. | We won’t be late |
| You should go. | You shouldn’t go |
| She saw me. | She didn’t see me. |
| I like cheese. | I don’t like cheese. |
| They understood. | They didn’t understand. |
| He lives here. | He doesn’t live here. |
| Go away! | Don’t go away! |
| I did the shopping. | I didn’t do the shopping. |
| She can swim. | She can’t swim. |
| They’ve arrived. | They haven’t arrived |
| I went to the bank. | I didn’t go to the bank. |
| He speaks German. | He doesn’t speak German. |
| We were angry. | We weren’t angry. |
| He’ll be pleased. | He won’t be pleased |
| Call me tonight. | Don’t call me tonight. |
| It rained yesterday. | It didn’t rain yesterday. |
| I could hear them. | I couldn’t hear them. |
| I believe you. | I don’t believe you. |
Practice Negative forms in English with more examples:
- They aren’t rich. They haven’t got much money.
- Would you like something to eat?’ ‘No, thank you. I’m not hungry.
- I can’t find my glasses. Have you seen them?
- Steve goes to the cinema much. He doesn’t prefer to watch DVDs at home.
- We can walk to the station from here. It isn’t / it’s not very far.
- Where’s Jane?’ ‘I don’t know. I haven’t seen her today.
- Be careful! Don’t fall!
- We went to a restaurant last night. I didn’t like the food very much.
- I’ve been to Japan many times, but I haven’t been to Korea.
- Julia won’t be here tomorrow. She’s going away.
- Who broke that window?’ ‘Not me. I didn’t do it.’
- We didn’t see what happened. We weren’t looking at the time.
- Lisa bought a new coat a few days ago, but she hasn’t worn it yet.
- You shouldn’t drive so fast. It’s dangerous.
Questions with short answers in negative:
- Are you married? No. I’m not married.
- Were you born in London? No. I wasn’t born in London
- Do you like London? No, I don’t like London.
- Have you got a car? No, I haven’t got a car.
- Do you read newspapers? No, I don’t read newspapers.
- Are you interested in politics? No, I’m not interested in politics.
- Did you watch TV last night? No, I didn’t watch TV last night.
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