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© Samuel Haldane 2005-2006
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Negatives

English converts a positive to a negative by placing the word not after a verb. However, not can only be attached to certain verbs called vector verbs. These include: be, do, have, can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, must.

If a statement contains a vector verb, we can simply attach not to the vector verb:

Positive statement Negative statement
I am ready. I am not ready.

If a statement does not contain a vector verb, we add a vector verb, usually do, as an auxiliary. The word not is then attached to this:

Positive statement Negative statement with do Error: negative statement without do
It works. It does not work. **It works not.

This error form, **it works not, was used hundreds of years ago. But if it is used now, it is deliberately old-fashioned. This is not living present-day English.

Other negatives

Negatives other than not, such as never and nowhere, do not require a vector verb:
He never speaks.
We are going nowhere.

For further discussion and how to form negative questions, see:
Vector verbs.

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