28d. Negative verb forms

28dTo make negative verb forms, add not in the appropriate place.

If the verb is the simple present or past tense of be (am, is, are, was, were), add not after the verb.

Gianna is not a member of the club.

For simple present-tense verbs other than be, use do or does plus not before the base form of the verb. (For the correct forms of do and does, see the chart on in 27c.)

image

image

For simple past-tense verbs other than be, use did plus not before the base form of the verb.

image

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.

image

image

note: English allows only one negative in an independent clause to express a negative idea; using more than one is an error known as a double negative (see 26e for more on double negatives to express a positive idea).

image

hackerhandbooks.com/bedhandbook

  • Multilingual/ESL > Exercises: 28–5, 28–6, and 28–13
  • Multilingual/ESL > LearningCurve: Verbs for multilingual writers