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

Example sentence: If Dana wins the contest, she will leave for Spain in June.

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

Example sentence with editing. Original sentence: Mariko no want more dessert. Revised sentence: Mariko does not want more dessert. Explanation: “no” has been replaced by “does not.”

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

Example sentence with editing. Original sentence: They did not planted corn this year. Revised sentence: They did not plant corn this year. Explanation: The verb “planted” has been changed to “plant.”

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

Example sentence with editing. Original sentence: Inna should have not gone dancing last night. Revised sentence: Inna should not have gone dancing last night. Explanation: The word “not” was moved.

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.

Exercises:

Verb forms and tenses 1

Verb forms and tenses 2