Negative verb forms
Negative forms with be (present or past tense)
If the verb is the simple present or past tense of be (am, is, are, was, were), add not after the verb:
|
am not |
is not |
are not |
|
was not |
were not |
Negative forms of present-tense verbs
For simple present-tense verbs other than be, use do or does plus not before the base form of the verb:
|
do not see |
does not need |
|
do not walk |
does not sing |
Correct use of do and does
Negative forms of past-tense verbs
For simple past-tense verbs other than be, use did plus not before the base form of the verb:
|
did not allow |
did not report |
Negative forms of helping verb + participle
In a verb phrase consisting of one or more helping verbs and a present or past participle (is watching, were living, has played, could have been driven), use the word not after the first helping verb:
|
is not watching |
|
|
were not living |
has not played |
|
could not have been playing |
Contractions: n’t for not
The word not can be contracted to n’t when used with some forms of be (is, are, was, were) and with other helping verbs and modals.
|
isn’t |
aren’t |
wasn’t |
|
weren’t |
shouldn’t |
hadn’t |
|
didn’t |
won’t (for will not) |
The contraction aren’t is used for the first-person singular am not in questions: Aren’t I first in line? No, I am not first.
Exercise: Verb forms and tenses 1
Exercise: Verb forms and tenses 2