Word order in negative statements - Easy Learning Grammar
- John has gone to school.
- John has not gone to school.
- a primary auxiliary verb,
- She had not arrived in time for lunch.
- Kate is not working this evening.
- Tim was not reading your diary.
- one or other of the modal auxiliary verbs, or
- I warn you, he may not want to come.
- Ailsa could not see the road clearly.
- a form of be used as a main verb.
- That is not my book.
- I may not have gone by the time you arrive.
- They could not have seen her – they were asleep in bed.
- They should not have been playing in the road.
- He runs.
- He does not run.
- He ran.
- He did not run.
- Lynn does not work overtime now.
- The bus service did not run on Sundays.
- The contracted form of not, which is n’t, can be used after every auxiliary verb except am. This is the most common spoken form.
- He doesn’t run.
- He didn’t run.
- Lynn doesn’t work on Sundays.
- She hasn’t been to work all week.
- He isn’t going to come after all.
- Bill went swimming but Ann didn’t fancy it.
can + not is usually written cannot.
- She can’t come.
- She cannot come.
- Other words with a negative meaning, never, barely, hardly, scarcely, rarely, do not change the order of words in a statement.
- She doesn’t buy Vogue.
- She never buys Vogue.
- He barely earns enough to live on.
- I hardly think that is going to put them off.
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