Affirmative to Negative

Affirmative Sentences:

An affirmative sentence is a statement that expresses a positive idea, fact, or action. It affirms or confirms something to be true or real.

Example:

• She is going to the market.
• They have finished their homework.

Negative Sentences:

A negative sentence is a statement that expresses the negation or denial of an action, event, or fact. It generally uses words like *not*, *never*, *no*, or *none* to deny the action or idea.

Example:

• She is not going to the market.
• They haven't finished their homework.

Here are the key rules for changing affirmative sentences into negative sentences: 1. **Use of "Not"**: The most common way to make a sentence negative is by adding "not" after the auxiliary (helping) verb. For example: - Affirmative: She **is** happy. - Negative: She **is not** happy. 2. **Auxiliary Verbs**: If there is no auxiliary verb in the sentence (e.g., in simple present or past tense), we need to add "do" (or its past form "did") as an auxiliary verb and then add "not." - Affirmative: He eats pizza. - Negative: He **does not** eat pizza. - Affirmative (past): She worked hard. - Negative (past): She **did not** work hard. 3. **"Be" as Main Verb**: When "be" is the main verb (in any tense), we can add "not" directly after it. - Affirmative: They **are** here. - Negative: They **are not** here. 4. **Modals (can, will, would, should, etc.)**: When using modal verbs (can, will, must, etc.), the negative is formed by adding "not" directly after the modal verb. - Affirmative: He **can** swim. - Negative: He **cannot** swim. 5. **Negative Contractions**: In informal speech or writing, contractions of "not" are often used, such as "isn't" for "is not," "aren't" for "are not," "doesn't" for "does not," "didn't" for "did not," etc. - Affirmative: She is tired. - Negative: She **isn't** tired. 6. **Changing to "Never" for Emphasis**: Sometimes, "never" is used instead of "not" for greater emphasis or in specific contexts like always or all the time. - Affirmative: He eats vegetables. - Negative: He **never** eats vegetables.

"Not" is used with auxiliary verbs to form negative sentences. Here's how it works:

1. **For the verb "to be" (am, is, are, was, were):**

• - **Present:** I am not tired.
• - **Past:** She was not happy.

2. **For modal verbs (can, could, will, would, shall, should, may, might, must, etc.):**

• - **Can:** I cannot (can't) swim.
• - **Will:** They will not (won't) come.
• - **Must:** You must not lie.

3. **For "have" as an auxiliary verb (used in perfect tenses):**

• - **Present perfect:** They have not (haven't) finished their homework.
• - **Past perfect:** I had not (hadn't) seen him before.

4. **For "do" as an auxiliary verb (used for questions and negatives in the present simple and past simple):**

• - **Present simple:** I do not (don't) like coffee.
• - **Past simple:** She did not (didn't) go to the party.

### Key Notes:

• - "Not" is placed after the auxiliary verb in negative constructions.
• - When using contractions, you combine the auxiliary verb and "not" (e.g., can't, won't, haven't).

Auxiliary verbs (also known as helping verbs) are used to support the main verb in a sentence. However, sentences can sometimes be formed without auxiliary verbs. Here are some examples of such sentences:

• She sings beautifully.
  (No auxiliary verb, just a simple present tense sentence.)
• They went to the market.
  (Past tense without an auxiliary verb.)
• I read books.
  (Present tense, no auxiliary verb.)
• The sun rises in the east.
  (A simple statement with no auxiliary verb.)
• He eats vegetables.
  (Simple present tense, no auxiliary verb.)

In these sentences, the main verb is used directly without the need for an auxiliary verb like "is," "am," "are," "have," "do," etc.

"Do," "Does," and "Did" are auxiliary verbs used to form questions, negative sentences, and emphatic statements in the simple present and simple past tenses.

### **1. Simple Present Tense:**

- **"Do"** is used with plural subjects (I, you, we, they) and the pronouns **I** and **you**.

• - Example (affirmative): I **do** my homework every day.
• - Example (question): **Do** you like pizza?
• - Example (negative): They **do not** (don’t) understand the lesson.

- **"Does"** is used with singular third-person subjects (he, she, it).

• - Example (affirmative): She **does** her job very well.
• - Example (question): **Does** he play football?
• - Example (negative): He **does not** (doesn’t) enjoy traveling.

### **2. Simple Past Tense:**

'Did' is used with all subjects (I, you, he, she, it, we, they) to form questions and negative sentences in the past tense.

• affirmative: I **did** my homework yesterday. (Note: The main verb stays in its base form, even with "did.")
• question: **Did** you see the movie last night?
• negative: They **did not** (didn’t) attend the meeting.

### Summary:

- **Present**:

• - Use **"do"** (I/you/we/they) and **"does"** (he/she/it).
• - For negatives and questions, add "do/does."

- **Past**:

• - Use **"did"** for all subjects.
• - For negatives and questions, add "did."

Negative words like "no," "never," "nobody," "none," and others are used to express negation or denial. Here’s how each one is typically used:

1. No

- **Usage**: Often used before a noun to indicate the absence of something or to make a direct negative statement.

- **Examples**:

• - There is **no** milk in the fridge.
• - **No** one is allowed to enter the room.

2. Never

- **Usage**: Used to indicate that something has not happened at any time in the past and will not happen in the future.

- **Examples**:

• - I have **never** been to Paris.
• - She **never** eats vegetables.

3. Nobody

- **Usage**: Refers to not a single person; no person.

- **Examples**:

• - **Nobody** came to the party.
• - **Nobody** knows the answer.

4. None

- **Usage**: Used to indicate the absence of something when referring to a group or amount.

- **Examples**:

• - **None** of the students passed the exam.
• - There are **no** cookies left; **none** were saved for you.

5. Not

- **Usage**: A general word for negating verbs or adjectives.

- **Examples**:

• - I am **not** going to the store.
• - This is **not** my book.

6. Nothing

- **Usage**: Used to indicate the absence of anything.

- **Examples**:

• - There is **nothing** in the box.
• - I have **nothing** to say about it.

7. Nowhere

- **Usage**: Used to indicate the absence of any place or location.

- **Examples**:

• - We are going **nowhere**.
• - **Nowhere** in the world is there a place like this.

8. No one / None of

- **Usage**: These are used to indicate the absence of people.

- **Examples**:

• - **No one** knew about the surprise.
• - **None of** the children went home early.

9. Neither

- **Usage**: Used to show the negation of two things.

- **Examples**:

• - **Neither** John **nor** Jane went to the concert.
• - **Neither** of us has seen that movie.

10. Hardly

- **Usage**: Used to indicate that something happens to a very small degree.

- **Examples**:

• - I can **hardly** hear you.
• - They **hardly** ever go out.

Changing "too" to "so...not" is a way to negate a statement or express a negative meaning. Here's how it works:

- **"Too"** is used to indicate an excess of something. For example, "The coffee is too hot." This means the coffee is excessively hot. To make a negative version using **"so...not,"** you would change the structure like this: - **"So...not"** is used to express that something is not to the same extent as expected or desired. For example, "The coffee is so hot, it's not drinkable." Here are a few examples of changing "too" to "so...not": 1. **Too tired** → "So tired, not able to work." - *"I'm too tired to work"* becomes *"I'm so tired, I'm not able to work."* 2. **Too expensive** → "So expensive, not worth buying." - *"This car is too expensive"* becomes *"This car is so expensive, it's not worth buying."* The phrase "so...not" emphasizes the lack of the expected result or capacity in contrast to the "too" form.

Double negatives in English occur when two negative elements are used in the same sentence, often resulting in a confusing or incorrect meaning. Here are some key points to remember to avoid double negatives: ### 1. **Use a single negative for clarity**: - **Incorrect**: *I don't need no help.* - **Correct**: *I don't need any help.* The first example uses two negative elements ("don't" and "no"), which make the sentence sound confusing. Instead, you can use "any" or another form of negation to keep it clear. ### 2. **Avoid using "not" with negative words like "nobody," "nothing," "nowhere," etc.**: - **Incorrect**: *I don't know nobody.* - **Correct**: *I don't know anybody.* The word "nobody" already implies a negative, so adding "don't" creates an unnecessary double negative. ### 3. **Don’t mix two negative auxiliary verbs**: - **Incorrect**: *I can't never do it.* - **Correct**: *I can never do it.* "Can't" is already negative, so adding "never" creates a double negative. Instead, use "never" alone to express negation. ### 4. **Use one negative word per clause**: - **Incorrect**: *She didn't say nothing.* - **Correct**: *She didn't say anything.* "Nothing" is negative, and "didn't" is already negative, so only one should be used to avoid redundancy. ### Summary: To avoid double negatives, always check for two negative elements in a sentence and replace them with a single negative expression to keep the meaning clear and grammatically correct.

Here are some practice exercises to help you transform affirmative sentences into negative ones:

1. Change the following affirmative sentences into negative ones:

• 1. He plays football every day.
• 2. They are coming to the party tonight.
• 3. She likes to read books in her free time.
• 4. We will go to the park tomorrow.
• 5. John has finished his homework.

2. Negative Transformation with "Not":

• 1. She is very happy with her new job.
• 2. The students have completed the project.
• 3. I can speak three languages.
• 4. They were planning to travel to Spain.
• 5. We eat vegetables with every meal.

3. Negative Transformation with "No":

• 1. There is a lot of sugar in the cake.
• 2. I have many friends in this city.
• 3. She has been to Paris.
• 4. They are going to the concert tomorrow.
• 5. He made a mistake during the test.