Negative construction
No, Not, None of:
No is used with nouns
Not is used with verbs
None of + noun
Nor is used after a negative
statement in order to introduce another negative statement containing a similar
kind of information
Negation
is most frequently expressed by using "not" with an auxiliary verb to
negate the main verb (did not ask; wasn't done; haven't gone). Also, negation
is often expressed by using "no" or its derivatives (have no time;
nothing happened). Negation in English sentences can be expressed with the help
of negative adverbs, negative pronouns, or negative conjunctions, such as
"not, no, nothing, nobody, no one, none, neither, neither...nor, never,
nowhere".
Brief comparison of “no” and “not”:
Structure: No + noun (/noun
phrase)
When used
with nouns, “no” has the meaning "not a” or “not any". In ordinary
situations, negating the verb with the help of “not” is usually preferable, as “no”
may sound emphatic. (“No” stresses complete absence.)
He has no money. He doesn't have any money.
She has no friends. She
doesn't have any friends.
I found no information about
it. I didn't find any information about it.
The same
preferences usually apply in the case of the derivatives of “no”. That is,
negation of the verb with the help of “no” is usually preferable in ordinary
situations.
He said nothing. He didn't
say anything.
She saw no one. She didn't
see anyone.
We went nowhere last week. We
didn't go anywhere last week.
Both “not”
and “no”, and derivatives of “no” are commonly used with the construction
"there is, there are", without noticeable difference in meaning.
There is no milk in the
refrigerator. There isn't any milk in the refrigerator.
There is no need to shout.
Only “no”
can be used with the subject of the sentence, and only the derivatives of “no”
can be used as the subject.
No textbook can explain all
the rules.
Nobody knows the answer to
this question.
Nothing has changed.
“No” may
have the following emphatic meaning: "not at all; far from being". “Not”
is not used in this way.
He is no
teacher. (Meaning: He is not a very good teacher.) He is not a teacher. (He is
not a teacher by profession.)
“No” and “not”
are used together in short answers to general questions.
“Not”
is a negative particle (adverb). Its main use is to express negative or
opposite action by negating the verb. “Not” is often contracted with the
auxiliary or modal verb in speech and writing. (Full forms are considered
preferable in formal writing.)
She will not come to the
party. She won't come to the party.
You should not do it. You
shouldn't do it.
He was not invited. He wasn't
invited.
Her school is not far from
here. Her school isn't far from here.
Place of “not” in a sentence:
“Not” usually stands after
the auxiliary verb before the main verb. ,
We have not seen her lately.
/ We haven't seen her lately.
If there
are two auxiliary verbs in a tense form, NOT is placed after the first.
These letters have not been
sent yet. / These letters haven't been sent yet.
“Not” is
placed after the linking verb “be” before the predicative.
He is not interested in
history. He isn't interested in history.
“Not” and Verb + infinitive
If the main verb is followed by the infinitive
(or gerund), “not” usually negates the main verb and stands before it.
She does not want to invite
him. She doesn't want to invite him.
He doesn't seem to understand
it.
I don't expect to see him
today.
I don't mind working on
weekends.
“Not” can
negate the infinitive (or gerund) if the meaning of the sentence requires it.
In such cases, “not” is placed before the infinitive (or gerund).
She decided not to invite
him.
It is better not to discuss
it with him.
I prefer not to work on
weekends.
I regret not telling him
about it.
The
meaning of the sentence usually changes when “not” negates the infinitive, as
compared with similar sentences in which “not” negates the main verb.
He did not ask me to call
her. – He asked me not to call her.
I did not promise to do it. –
I promised not to do it.
He does not like working on
Saturdays. – He likes not having to work on Saturdays.
Note the
preferred way of negation in the following sentences:
I don't think I know him.
I don't think that it will
rain today. But: I hope that it won't rain today.
“Not” can
be used with other parts of the sentence, if necessary. For example:
She visits them, but not very
often.
I saw Ella, not her sister.
“No” is a
pronoun that is used as an adjective and as an adverb. The affirmative form of
the verb is used in sentences with “no” or its derivatives.
He has no time. They have no
children. There is no telephone in the house.
There are no mistakes in your
composition. There is no need to worry.
No guests have arrived yet.
No part of this text may be
reproduced without permission.
No smoking. No littering.
He is no better than the
others.
Derivatives of “no”:
The derivatives
"nothing, nobody, no one, none" are used as nouns.
She saw nobody in the yard.
She told no one.
That's none of your business.
Nothing happened.
Nobody knows how it happened.
No one believed him.
None of them can help him.
There is nothing in this drawer.
There is nothing we can do.
We can do nothing. We can't do anything.
How much money have you got? –
I've got none. None. I've got no money. I haven't got any
money. I haven't got any.
We didn't go anywhere. We
went nowhere. Where did you go? – Nowhere.
I have nowhere to go. She was
nowhere to be found.
They appeared from nowhere.
They appeared out of nowhere.
This takes us nowhere. This
will take us nowhere.
Neither, and nor:
The pronoun "neither" means not one or
the other. The pronoun "neither" is the negative form of the pronoun
"either".
Neither answer is correct.
Neither of them was able to help him.
Which of these cars do you
like? – Neither. / I like neither of them. / I don't like either of them.
Don't use
"either" or "neither" if you have more than two to choose
from. Compare:
Neither of the answers is correct.
– None of the answers is correct.
The
pronoun "both" is not used in negative constructions.
"Neither" is used instead of "both" in negative sentences.
We both knew it. Both of us
knew it. – Neither of us knew it.
The adverb
"too" is not used in negative constructions. The adverb
"either" is used instead of "too" in negative sentences.
I know him too. – I don't
know him either.
The
conjunctions "either...or" and "neither...nor" imply the
choice out of two (people, things, groups, actions). "Either...or" is
used in negative constructions with the verb in the negative form.
"Neither...nor" is used with the verb in the affirmative form.
He doesn't speak either
Spanish or French. / He speaks neither Spanish nor French.
Neither his family nor his
friends knew about his plans.
"Neither"
is also an adverb used in phrases like "Neither do I". (So do I.
Neither do I.)
The adverb "never"
The adverb "never" is used in negative
constructions with the verb in the affirmative form. "Never" is used
very frequently.
I have never heard about it.
She has never visited New York.
I will never forget it. The
stolen diamonds were never found.
He was never seen again. He
never married.
He is never late. One never
knows.
You never know. It's now or
never!
Never mind. Never mind about
that.
Never leave this door open.
Answers to negative questions:
Compare the answers to the
affirmative and negative questions given below.
Did you see him? Yes, I did. (Yes, I saw him.); No, I didn't.
(No, I didn't see him.)
Didn't you see him? Yes, I
did. (Yes, I saw him.); No, I didn't. (No, I didn't see him.)
You saw him, didn't you? Yes,
I did. (Yes, I saw him.); No, I didn't. (No, I didn't see him.)
You didn't see him, did you?
No, I didn't. (No, I didn't see him.); Yes, I did. (Yes, I saw him.)
In negative questions, “not”
is usually contracted with the auxiliary verb:
Didn't you know it? Hasn't he called you?
If you want to use the full
form, your negative questions should be like these:
Did you not know it?
Has he not called you? (Such
questions are less common.)
Shortened negative questions:
Sometimes
a negative question is asked in a shortened form, and the answers offered are
usually just “Yes or No” In such cases, it may be difficult to understand the
meaning of “Yes and No”. Compare the meanings of the answers in these examples:
Disallow
images? – Yes. (Images won't be shown.) Disallow images? – No. (Images will be
shown.)
Never display email? – Yes.
(Email address won't be shown.) Never display email? – No. (Email address will
be shown.)
Double
negative is a construction in which two negative words express a single
negation. English does not allow double negative, which means that you can use
only one negative word within the same construction.
She did not call anyone. She
called no one. He never visits them.
The following examples show
incorrect and correct negative constructions.
Incorrect (double negative):
I don't have nothing; I didn't ask no one; I didn't see neither of them
Correct: I don't have
anything. I have nothing; I didn't ask anyone. I asked no one; I didn't see
either of them. I saw neither of them; there isn't anybody. there is nobody; he
doesn't go anywhere.
The
adverbs "hardly, scarcely, barely" are used in the meaning of a
negative. It is considered incorrect to use them together with an additional
negative.
Incorrect (double negative):
hardly none; scarcely none; hardly never; can't hardly
Correct: hardly any; scarcely
any; hardly ever; can hardly; can scarcely; can barely.
- There is hardly any cheese left. She hardly ever
watches TV. I could hardly breathe.
Double negative in songs:
Double
negative is frequently used in the lyrics of modern songs. Double negative in
song lyrics is usually formed by replacing "any" with "no"
for emphasis and by using "ain't" (for all persons instead of
"am not, isn't, aren't, haven't, hasn't"). Such use is a stylistic
device aimed at making the song stronger, simpler, and closer to the listener.
Here are some examples illustrating the use of double negative in songs:
I can't get no satisfaction
(The Rolling Stones);
Come back baby I never did
you no wrong (Gary Moore);
Sweet bitter words unlike
nothing I have heard (Korn);
It ain't no big thing but it's
growin' (Elvis Presley);
And you still ain't got no
place to go (Deep Purple);
You ain't goin' nowhere (Bob
Dylan);
She ain't never gonna be the
same (Aerosmith).
Other constructions with two negatives:
There are
some constructions with two negatives which are not considered to be wrong. For
example, "neither...nor" is not regarded as double negative.
Neither Mike nor Jim knows
her address.
They know neither her address
nor her telephone number.
Negative
answers to general questions are not double negatives either.
Do you know her address? –
No, I don't. Didn't she tell you? – No, she didn't.
There
may also occur some sentence constructions which are not regarded as containing
double negative despite the presence of two negatives. Generally, it is better
to rephrase such sentences to avoid possible misunderstanding. For example:
I don't like not being told
the truth. – I don't like it when people don't tell me the truth.
I don't mind not watching
this film. – I don't really want to watch this film.
As a rule,
constructions with two negatives are more expressive than ordinary affirmative
constructions with similar meaning.
They left no stone unturned
in their search for the missing child. – They did everything they could in
their search for the missing child.
His actions were not entirely
unselfish. – He had his own personal interest in it.
Proverbs:
Numerous examples of the use of “no” and “not”
in various constructions can be found in English proverbs. Some proverbs exist
in negative and affirmative variants.
All is not gold that
glitters.
He who makes no mistakes
makes nothing.
There is no smoke without
fire. – Where there is smoke there is fire.
What's done can't be undone. –
What's done is done.
