Negative forms

Hi again. Today I'll review how to use negative forms.

To make a verb negative, we add not immediately after the first helping verb.
Remember, the helping verb comes before the main verb: am, is, have, had, will etc.
I am studying.
I am not studying.
I have finished my homework.
I have not finished my homework.
Daniel will be here tomorrow.
Daniel will not be here tomorrow.

Simple present and simple past verbs don't use helping verbs. To make a simple present verb negative,
add the helping verb do or does:
I study every day.
I do not study every day.
Angela takes the bus to school.
Angela doesn't take the bus to school.

For simple past, use did:

I went home early yesterday.
I didn't go home early yesterday.

We often contract the helping verb with not, so we say isn't, aren't, wasn't, weren't, doesn't, don't,
didn't, hasn't, and haven't.
The negative contraction for will not is won't.

We can also use negative adverbs like never, rarely, seldom, hardly, scarcely, and barely to form negative
sentences. We use the adverb instead of not.
I don't talk to my cousin often.
I rarely talk to my cousin.
John does not eat at expensive restaurants.
John never eats at expensive restaurants.

Let's talk about the difference between not and no.

Use not with a verb.

I don't have time to finish the homework.

There aren't any people here today.
He didn't tell anyone his secret.

We use no with a noun for emphasis.

I have no time to finish the homework.
This is more emphatic than I don't have time to finish.
Here are a couple more examples:
There are no people here today.
He told no one his secret.

Double negatives are very confusing. Take this example:

He didn't tell no one his secret.
That means he told someone. Confusing, right? It's better to use didn't tell or no one, but not both
together in the same sentence.

So I can say:
He didn't tell anyone.
Or:
He told no one.
But not: [no audio]

It's possible to begin a sentence with a negative adverb, but this is formal and not very common. It's
used when we want to emphasize the negative word. Let's look at some examples:
Never have I heard such wonderful news.
Rarely does Claudia miss class.

These sentences are stronger than saying:

I have never heard such wonderful news before.
Or:
Claudia rarely misses class.

Look at the examples again. Notice what happens to the subject and verb? They take the same word
order used in questions:
Have I heard such wonderful news?
Does Claudia miss class?

Try practicing. Which one of these two sentences seems stronger?

I have no time to chat right now.
I don't have time to chat right now.
The first sentence is stronger because we use no with a noun for emphasis.

Let's look at another one.

I've never seen such a terrible movie.

Never have I seen such a terrible movie.
Did you choose the second sentence? That's right. We begin the sentence with a negative verb when we
want to emphasize it.

That's it for now. See you next time.