Friday, March 30, 2012

Negatives and Negation–Grammar Rules

When you want to express the opposite meaning of a particular word or sentence, you can do it by inserting a negation. Negations are words like no, not, and never. If you wanted to express the opposite of I am here, for example, you could say I am not here.

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.

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