GMAT Grammar Book: Negation - Part I - Using "Not"

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In order to make a sentence negative, use the word not after the auxiliary verb, or verb be. NOTE: When adding not to the auxiliary can, the word is written as one word – cannot.

Robert is happy. Robert is not happy.
George has done his homework. George has not done his homework.
Stephanie has arrived. Stephanie has not arrived.
You can climb the wall. You cannot climb the wall.

If there is no auxiliary or be verb then add the correct form of do (do, does, did) and place the word not after that.

Examples of sentences which do not contain an auxiliary verb and must be used with do, does, or did.

Mark likes to swim. Mark does not like to swim.
Stacy went to the dentist. Stacy did not go to the dentist.
We want to travel to Europe. We do not want to travel to Europe.

None/No

None is used with either a plural count or non-count noun. It CANNOT be used with a single count noun. The verb form will depend on the noun used.

None of the girls have played soccer before. plural count noun = girls
None of the water has leaked into the basement. Non-count noun = water

No can be used with all nouns. The verb form will depend on the noun used.

No boy is going to date my daughter. Single count noun = boy
No cars are completely energy efficient. Plural count noun = cars
No water is safe to drink from that county. Non-count noun = water

Some / Any

Some is used before the complement in a positive/affirmative sentence, while any is used before the complement in a negative sentence.

I want some coffee. I don’t want any coffee.
Daniel has some pizza. Daniel doesn’t have any pizza.
Debby had some homework. Debby didn’t have any homework.

It is also possible to make a sentence negative by adding the word no before the complement noun. When this occurs, the verb CANNOT be negative (see Double Negatives next).

Daniel has no pizza. Debby has no homework.




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This post is a part of [GMAT GRAMMAR BOOK]