Grammar American & British

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Negation , Grammar American & British[ 26 ]

26- ] Grammar American & British 

 Negation .

What is negation in a sentence?

In English grammar, negation is a grammatical construction that contradicts (or negates) all or part of the meaning of a sentence. Also known as a negative construction or standard negation.

In standard English, negative clauses and sentences commonly include the negative particle not or the contracted negative n't. Other negative words include no, none, nothing, nobody, nowhere, and never.

In many cases, a negative word can be formed by adding the prefix un- to the positive form of a word (as in unhappy and undecided). Other negative affixes (called negators) include a-, de-, dis-, in-, -less, and mis-.

In English Grammar, sentence negation is a type of negation that affects the meaning of an entire clause. This form is also known as sentential negation, clausal negation, and nexal negation. ... In colloquial English, sentence negation may be achieved using phrases such as like hell or no way.

Negation is the process that turns an affirmative statement into its opposite denial. Example: She is a nice girl - She is not a nice girl. Verbs in English are negated by placing the word not after an auxiliary or modal.

Below, you’ll find lists of common negative words used to negate ideas.

Negative words:

 

No

Not

None

No one

Nobody

Nothing

Neither

Nowhere

Never

 

 

 

Negative Adverbs:

Hardly Scarcely Barely

Negative verbs

Doesn’t

Isn’t

Wasn’t

Shouldn’t

Wouldn’t

Couldn’t

Won’t

Can’t

Don’t

 

 

 

Remember, when using negatives, make sure you only use one at a time in reference to any particular idea. Otherwise, you will create a double negative, which is an error in English.

What is adverb of negation give examples?

Adverb of Affirmation or Negation is a word which declares that something is true or some equivalent expression or negative statement, judgment or a logical proposition. Some examples of affirmation and negation are - certainly, definitely, never, no etc.

Negation, as maintained by the likes of Merriam Webster refers to

“the action or logical operation of negating or making negative”.

In simpler terms, negation defines the polar opposition of affirmative, denies the existence or vaguely – a refutation. This is also known as “Not”. Classical logic resembles negation with truth function which takes truth to falsity and is perfectly capable of running the opposite operation. It denies the truth of a sentence. It’s just the conversion of the affirmative sentence which converts the simple affirmative sentence into negative.

Example

I like to sing = I do not like to sing.

More examples of negation

Rules of Negation:

By changing the auxiliary verb of the sentence into negative, we can apply Negation in a sentence.

1. Negation in tense

1.          Present Indefinite Tense         Do = do not/ don’t, does = does not/doesn’t.

2.          Present Continuous Tense      Am = am not, is = is not/isn’t, are = are not, aren’t.

3.          Present Perfect Tense Have = have not/haven’t, has = has not/hasn’t

4.          Present Perfect Continuous tense            Has been = has not been, have been = have not been

5.          Past Indefinite tense    Did = did not/didn’t

6.          Past Continuous tense Was = was not/wasn’t, were = were not/ weren’t

7.          Past Perfect Tense      Had = had not/hadn’t

8.          Past Perfect Continuous Tense Had been = had not been/hadn’t been

9.          Future Indefinite Tense           Shall = shall not, will = will not/won’t

10.        Future Continuous tense         Shall be = shall not be, will be = will not/won’t

11.        Future Perfect Tense  Shall have = shall not have, will have = will not have/won’t have

12.        Future Perfect Continuous Tense            Shall have been = shall not have been,

will have been = will not have been/won’t have been

 

Examples:

He drives the car = He does not drive the car

Alex ate rice = Alex did not eat rice

2. Negation in Modal-auxiliary

Modal

Modal in negative

Modal

Modal in negative

Can

Can not/ can’t

Shall

Shall not

Could

Could not/ couldn’t

Should

Should not/shouldn’t

May

May not

Will

Will not/won’t

Might

Might not/mightn’t

would

Would not/wouldn’t

Must

Must not/mustn’t

Ought to

Ought not to

Need

Need not/needn’t

 

 

Examples:

Edward can swim= Edward cannot swim

We must go there= We must not go there

3. Negation in Words

Some words such as ever, anybody, anyone, anything, anywhere, instead of never, nobody, no one, nothing, nowhere, etc. represent the Negation.

Examples:

I do not think he can ever reach within time.

Examples of Negation Adding Suffixes

  Suffixes are also used for negation such as less.

Examples of Negation Adding Suffixes:

Jim is so careless that he will not do anything.

John won’t listen to you because he is so fearless.

The food was so tasteless.

We should help the homeless people.

Alice was feeling so hopeless.

There was no one there to help Jack and he was feeling very helpless.

Throw away the pot because it’s bottomless.

We are doubtless about her performance.

Rick has endless stories to tell.

We are thinking of discarding the useless things.

Bill is so restless that he cannot stay long anywhere.

Have patience! Stop being restless!

We cannot forgive such a careless behavior.

Peter is very reckless.

We worried about Allen’s reckless driving.

How can we eat such tasteless food?

We aware of Bob’s restless nature.

Why have you become so hopeless?

Don’t feel so helpless.

The printer is getting out of order every now and then; it has become useless.

Examples of Negation Adding Prefixes

Negation can also be done by using prefixes such as Un, Im, In, Dis, De etc.

Examples of Negation Adding Prefixes:

Why are you bringing unnecessary things to the house?

This is impossible to be there now.

John disrespected the person.

Bill found it as a degradation.

The user account has been deactivated.

The management is thinking of decentralization.

The contestant was disqualified from the contest.

This matter is unimportant.

Many unwanted thoughts are coming to Jack’s mind.

This table is imperfect to be used at the office.

This water is impure.

Jim did an immature behavior.

Point out the disadvantages of this plan.

This is simply unbelievable that Aric has come.

Allen disobeyed the order.

Mack is an unqualified person.

Paul doesn’t have any disregard for you.

The chemist is de-acidifying the solution.

This is an unjustified behavior.

The behavior of Steven was inhuman.

Examples of Negation Using Negative Adjectives & Adverbs

The following negative adjectives or adverbs are also used for negation:

Little, few, a little, a few, hardly, barely, scarcely, roughly, rarely, seldom etc.

Examples of Negation Using Negative Adjectives & Adverbs:

John had little hope of success in this project.

Few people will support you.

Robin was a little tired.

A few of the people were happy.

I have hardly seen John working so hard.

Barely we had reached the theatre when it started to rain.

Scarcely Jack had finished the speech when everyone started clapping.

We have roughly seen Tom attending any class.

We have rarely seen any singer like Richard.

Robin seldom comes here.

Bob is little stubborn.

Suzan is a little scared.

I have found few places like this.

There are few people like you.

Rick has hardly done any work.

Aric had rarely sung any song.

Alice had roughly attended any program.

Albert is a little exhausted.

Anna has a little courage to do it.

Allen had roughly read any of the books.

Examples of Negation Using Negative Words

We use the following negative words for negation:

No, not, nothing, never, no one, none, nobody, nowhere, neither, neither….nor, not either, none of, not any etc.

Examples of Negation Using Negative Words:

Robin has no relatives here.

Jack is not right.

Bill has nothing to say.

I have never seen this case.

There was no one in the field.

None can hide the truth.

Nobody asked me anything about Bob.

John found the pen nowhere.

My mom doesn’t like this movie, neither do I.

Neither I nor my brother attended the party.

My friend did not taste the pudding, I didn’t either.

None of us liked the program.

Not any of the apples were fresh.

Ben has no problem with this decision.

Bob was not looking okay.

Alice has nothing to do.

No one supported Jeff.

Never do anything against humanity.

Richard found nothing in the right place.

None of the students were happy to hear it.

Double Negative

Double negative on the other hand, simply defines the existence of two forms of negation in the same sentence. Please, notice that a double negative can often result in an affirmation in the English language (e.g., He hardly stops for small-talks). The rhetorical term for such a phenomenon is ‘litotes’.

Example:

I can not find him nowhere.

Uses of Double Negative

Double Negative can be used in two ways. They are:

1. Using negative words

such as never, nobody, anyone, nothing, nowhere, etc.

Example:

He cannot go nowhere without informing me

2. Using prefix

Such as ir, un, non, pre, anti, il, im, etc.

Example:

John is not uncontrollable by his family member though he is a special child.

More examples of negation of using prefix

In modern English, Double Negatives are highly avoidable as it is grammatically wrong. We know we cannot use more than one negative word in a statement. It usually used in informal conversation or speech and in songs’ lyrics as well. To form a correct sentence, we must avoid using a double negative in a single sentence formally.

What About 'Ain't'?

"Together with negative concord, ain't is perhaps the best-known shibboleth of non-standard English, and this already implies that it is highly stigmatized. Ain't is a negative form of unclear historical origin and of very wide usage—both grammatically and geographically. Probably due to a historical coincidence, ain't functions as the negative form of both present tense BE and present tense HAVE in non-standard English today."

(Anderwald, Lieselotte. Negation in Non-Standard British English: Gaps, Regularizations, and Asymmetries, Routledge, 2002.)

"Boy, have you lost your mind? Cause I'll help you find it. What you looking for, ain't nobody gonna help you out there."

(Leslie David Baker as Stanley in "Take Your Daughter to Work Day," The Office, 2006.)

I have been watching TV for an hour.

Negativity Expressed in Noun Phrases

SUBJECT NOUN PHRASE                                  SUBJECT NOUN PHRASE          

PRONOUN                                                                 DETERMINER + PRONOUN     

Someone                                                                               No one  /   Not anyone

Somebody                                                                            Nobody  /   Not anybody

PREDICATE    parked here illegally.                    PREDICATE         parked here illegally.

QUANTITY PRONOUN                                               QUANTITY PRONOUN                                                

All  None¹                                                                           / Not any / Not all

Most                                                                                    Hardly any / Scarcely any

Many                                                                                  Few / Not many

are smoking outside.                                                          are smoking outside.

QUANTIFIER PHRASE + NOUN                             QUANTIFIER PHRASE + NOUN      

All of the dogs                                                                   None / Not all of the dogs

A lot of dogs                                                                      Few of our dogs

Many of the dogs                                                               Not many of the dogs

have been pooping on the sidewalk.                               has/have been pooping on the sidewalk.

NOUN                                                                                                      NEG. NOUN     

The logic of the signs                                                                           The illogicality of the signs

Their existence                                                                                     Their nonexistence

The advantage                                                                                       The disadvantage

is obvious to most people.                                                                    is obvious to most people.

Verbs that Express Negative Meanings (just a few)


annoy

agitate

avoid

bother

degrade

detest

disable

discourage

disbelieve

discredit

disfavor

dishonor

dislike

disrespect

disparage

dodge

forget

fool

misguide

misinform

mislead

scam

torture

trick

victimize

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exercises

Make Negative

1-]They play volleyball every week. → They ------------------- volleyball every week.

2- ]John is nice. → John----------------------- nice.

3- ] This car makes a lot of noise. → This car ---------------- a lot of noise.

4-  ] like computer games. → I ------------------ computer games.

5- ]We are from Greece. → We ---------------- from Greece.

6- ]You wear pullovers. → You ------------------ pullovers.

7- ]They speak English. → They--------------------- English.

8- ]He watches TV. → He ------------------- TV.

9- ] I am from Spain. → I -------------- from Spain.

10- ]Steve draws nice pictures. → Steve ------------------ nice pictures.

Make negative

1- ]Karin played volleyball yesterday.

2- ]There will be rain in the South tomorrow.

3- ] Mel speaks German.

.4- ]We are writing a test.

.5- ]Listen to Thomas.

.6- ]They are going to rent a car.

.7- ]I had seen him.

8- ]They were having a cup of tea this morning.

9- ]She has been to Berlin.

 Complete each of the answers, making sure you don't use double negatives:

1. Q: Do you want anything?

A: No, I don't want _____________.

  anything  - nothing

2. Q: Do you have any money?

A: No, I _____________ none.

  don't have - have

 3. Q: Did you see those people?

A: No, I didn't see _____________.

  no-one -  anyone

  4. Q: Do you have any candy?

A: No, I don't have _____________.

  any -  none

 5. Q: Didn't he tell you not to come here?

A: No, _____________ told me anything.

  nobody

  anybody

6. Q: How much money do you have?

A: Not much. I hardly have _____________.

  none - any

 7. Q: Where are you going?

A: _____________. I'm staying right here.

  Nowhere - Anywhere

  8. Q: So, you're staying right here?

A: That's right. I'm not going _____________.

  nowhere - anywhere

 9. Q: Do you know him well?

A: No, I _____________ know him.

  barely don't -  barely

 10. Q: Did the prisoner say anything?

A: No, he _____________ nothing.

  said -  didn't say

  Complete each of the answers, making sure you don't use double negatives:

1. Why didn't _____________ tell me there was a party tonight?

  no-one -  anyone

  2. Didn't you ask _____________ about giving you a ride?

  no-one -  anyone

  3. I barely _____________ his brother.

  know

  don't know

4. None of the things she said _____________ sense.

  made - didn't make

  5. Neither of them _____________ what was going on.

  didn't know - knew

6. Didn't you understand _____________ of the things he said?

  any -  none

  7. This _____________ no accident.

  isn't -   is

 8. That boy never does _____________ right.

  nothing - anything

  9. Our dog won't let _____________ pet him but me.

  none -  anyone

 10. You can't go to a bar without _____________ money.

  any - no

  Choose the correct word to make the sentence negative:

1. No one ___ come to your home if you had a party.

wouldn't - would

2. I am sure they won't believe ___ of them.

none - any

3. He was put in jail even though his guilt was ___ proven.

never - ever

4. I didn't do ___.

anything - nothing

5. I have never seen ___ like it.

nothing - anything

6. Steve didn't want to go ___.

either -  neither

7. ___ Steve nor Bill wanted to go.

either - neither

8. Unfortunately, we never ___ find the part we needed.

couldn't -  could

 9. I do not have ___ clue.

a - no

10. We don't have ___ money

no - any

Find all the double negatives

When I fell off my bike at the train station, I didn't feel nothing. I didn't feel no pain, but I was bleeding a lot. Nobody stopped. I asked myself, "Doesn't nobody care? Doesn't nothing make you stop your busy lives to help another person in trouble?" I moaned. I cried. Still, nobody stopped to ask if I was okay. Neither moaning nor crying seemed to work. "Doesn't neither reach your ears?" I wondered. Nope. I was alone in a crowd. I looked in my bag for a tissue to clean the dirt from my wound. There wasn't none in there. I finally hobbled to the ticket counter and asked the person behind the glass. She didn't have none, neither.

Complete each sentence making sure you do not use double negatives.

1. Do you want anything? A: No, I don't want -------------------

[ something- anything – nothing ]

2. Do you have any money? A: No, I ------------------- none.

[ didn't have – have – don’t have ]

3. Did you see those people? A: No, I didn't see -------------

[ no one – anyone – none ]

4. Do you have any candy? A: No, I don't have --------------

[ many- any – none ]

5. Didn't he tell you not to come here? A: No, ----------------- told me anything.

 [ anybody – nobody – anyone ]

 6. How much money do you have? A: Not much. I hardly have

[ any – no – none ]

7. Did the prisoner say anything? A: No, he---------------- nothing.

[ didn't say- said – never said ]

 8. Do you know him well? A: No, I --------------- know him.

[ barely – barely didn’t – barely don’t ]

9. Where are you going? A: ------------------. I'm staying right here.

[ Anywhere – Somewhere – Nowhere ]

10. So, you're staying right here? A:That's right. I'm not going[ somewhere – anywhere – nowhere ]

Identifying Double Negatives

Choose the correct word in parentheses to complete each sentence. After you have completed the exercise, read each sentence aloud with the correct word in place.

When you’re pet sitting, please don’t (ever, never) let our cat slip out of the house.

Hardly (no one, anyone) expected the team to win the final game.

Dan couldn’t do (nothing, anything) to repair the broken window.

After Halloween, the store didn’t have (any, no) more pumpkins.

I won’t (ever, never) be as tall as Randall.

Our new coach doesn’t have (no, any) patience with people who miss practice.

On the dark country road, there (were, weren’t) no street lights.

There (wasn’t, was) no milk left for Billy’s cereal.

Doesn’t (nobody, anybody) want the last slice of pizza?

Recovering from the flu, Anna (couldn’t, could) hardly stay awake.

EXERCISE

Correcting Double Negatives

Rewrite the following sentences to remove the double negative. Remember that you can either remove one of the negative words or replace it with a positive word. If a sentence does not contain a double negative, write correct.

Spending too many hours on the computer gives Steve no time for nothing else.

You can be sure there isn’t no monster under your bed, Katie.

The farmers had hardly any time to relax during the harvest.

Three violins don’t make up no string quartet.

After the discount store opened, the hardware store didn’t have no customers.

Please don’t spill nothing on your new dress shirt.

With her part-time job, Karen barely has any time to practice the flute.

Can’t nobody help me find my contact lens?

The judge deals harshly with criminals who have no remorse.

Do you think we won’t get no snow before Christmas?

EXERCISE

Using Negatives Correctly

Write a sentence using each of the following negative words. Avoid using any double negatives in your sentences.

never

none

barely

hardly

nobody

no

nothing

scarcely

not

not one

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