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.

What are negatives?

A negative is a word or phrase that shows you reject or disagree with something. We use negatives all the time in regular conversation, so a lot of these words should be familiar to you.

Can't, don't, and won't are all common negatives (as well as isn't, doesn't, and not). Words like never and nobody are negatives too—they just express disagreement in a different way.

Negative doesn't necessarily mean that something is bad or that you have a negative attitude. It just means you're negating something—in other words, stating that the opposite is true. You could be referring to anything: good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant. It might help to picture it this way:

Example

I feel sick : Positive

I don't feel sick :Negative 

Formation of Interrogative Sentences

Question from Brajrani Sarin

I have doubt in interrogative continuous tenses. If we write a sentence for example.:" I am playing." Then why it's interrogative form will be :" Are they playing." and why not "Am I playing." 


Open School Explanation

The present continuous tense indicates the continuity of an action which is going on at the present moment.

Form: Subject + is/are/am + -ing form of the verb.

I am doing sums.
We are looking at the black-board.
They were playing with the toys.
She is writing a letter to her friend.
They are waiting for us?
They are going to the market.

An interrogative sentence in the present continuous tense has the following structure.

Is/am/are + subject + -ing form of the verb.

Am I doing sums?
Are we looking at the black-board?
Were they playing with the toys?
Are you coming with us?
Is she writing a letter to her friend?
Are they waiting for us?
Are they going to the market?

Present perfect tense

The present perfect tense indicates the completion of an action. It has the following form:

Subject + has/have + past participle form of the verb.

They have arrived.
We have finished the job.
The workers have painted the house.
He has stolen my purse.
We have paid our dues.
We have learnt our lesson.
The sun has risen.

An interrogative sentence in the present perfect tense has the following structure.

Has/have + subject + past participle form of the verb

Have they arrived?
Have we finished the job?
Have the workers painted the house?
Has he stolen my purse?
Have we paid our dues?
Have we learnt our lesson?
Has the sun risen?

Present perfect continuous tense

The present perfect continuous tense has the following structure:

Subject + has/have + been + -ing form of the verb

She has been sleeping since morning.
He has been waiting for them for several hours.
We have been working hard for the examination for several months.
He has been doing this work for hours.
It has been raining heavily since the last night.

An interrogative sentence in the present perfect continuous tense has the following structure:

Has/have + subject + been + -ing form of the verb

Has she been sleeping since morning?
Has he been waiting for them for several hours?
Have we been working hard for the examination for several months?
Has he been doing this work for hours?

Has it been raining heavily since the last night?

Adjectives and Adverbs

Definitions

• An adjective is a word or set of words that modifies (i.e., describes) a noun or pronoun. Adjectives may come before the word they modify.

Examples:
That is a cute puppy.
She likes a high school senior.

Adjectives may also follow the word they modify:

Examples:
That puppy looks cute.
The technology is state-of-the-art.

• An adverb is a word or set of words that modifies verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Adverbs answer how, when, where, why, or to what extent—how often or how much (e.g., daily, completely).

Examples:
He speaks slowly (tells how)
He speaks very slowly (the adverb very tells how slowly)
She arrived today (tells when)
She will arrive in an hour (this adverb phrase tells when)
Let's go outside (tells where)
We looked in the basement (this adverb phrase tells where)
Bernie left to avoid trouble (this adverb phrase tells why)
Jorge works out strenuously (tells to what extent)
Jorge works out whenever possible (this adverb phrase tells to what extent)

Adverbs

Rule 1. Many adverbs end in -ly, but many do not. Generally, if a word can have -ly added to its adjective form, place it there to form an adverb.

Examples:
She thinks quick/quickly.
How does she think? Quickly.

She is a quick/quickly thinker.
Quick is an adjective describing thinker, so no -ly is attached.

She thinks fast/fastly.
Fast answers the question how, so it is an adverb. But fast never has -ly attached to it.

We performed bad/badly.
Badly describes how we performed, so -ly is added.

Rule 2. Adverbs that answer the question how sometimes cause grammatical problems. It can be a challenge to determine if -ly should be attached. Avoid the trap of -ly with linking verbs such as taste, smell, look, feel, which pertain to the senses. Adverbs are often misplaced in such sentences, which require adjectives instead.

Examples:
Roses smell sweet/sweetly.
Do the roses actively smell with noses? No; in this case, smell is a linking verb—which requires an adjective to modify roses—so no -ly.

The woman looked angry/angrily to us.
Did the woman look with her eyes, or are we describing her appearance? We are describing her appearance (she appeared angry), so no -ly.

The woman looked angry/angrily at the paint splotches.
Here the woman actively looked (used her eyes), so the -ly is added.

She feels bad/badly about the news.
She is not feeling with fingers, so no -ly.

Rule 3. The word good is an adjective, whose adverb equivalent is well.

Examples:
You did a good job.
Good describes the job.

You did the job well.
Well answers how.

You smell good today.
Good describes your fragrance, not how you smell with your nose, so using the adjective is correct.

You smell well for someone with a cold.
You are actively smelling with your nose here, so use the adverb.

Rule 4. The word well can be an adjective, too. When referring to health, we often use well rather than good.

Examples:

You do not look well today.

I don't feel well, either.

Rule 5. Adjectives come in three forms, also called degrees. An adjective in its normal or usual form is called a positive degree adjective. There are also the comparative and superlative degrees, which are used for comparison, as in the following examples:

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
sweet	sweeter	sweetest
bad	worse	worst
efficient	more efficient	most efficient

A common error in using adjectives and adverbs arises from using the wrong form of comparison. To compare two things, always use a comparative adjective:

Example: She is the cleverer of the two women (never cleverest)

The word cleverest is what is called the superlative form of clever. Use it only when comparing three or more things:

Example: She is the cleverest of them all.

Incorrect: Chocolate or vanilla: which do you like best?

Correct: Chocolate or vanilla: which do you like better?

Rule 6. There are also three degrees of adverbs. In formal usage, do not drop the -ly from an adverb when using the comparative form.

Incorrect: She spoke quicker than he did.

Correct: She spoke more quickly than he did.

Incorrect: Talk quieter.

Correct: Talk more quietly.

Rule 7. When this, that, these, and those are followed by a noun, they are adjectives. When they appear without a noun following them, they are pronouns.

Examples:
This house is for sale.
This is an adjective.

This is for sale.
This is a pronoun.