homework negative sentence

Negative Sentences in English Grammar

Negation of modal verbs and “be”, negation with “do”, negation with “be”, “have” and “will”, negation with “have”.

• Lingolia Plus English

Introduction

Negative sentences are created by placing an auxiliary verb and not before the main verb. The auxiliary verb depends on the tense we are using. We use do + not in simple tenses, be + not in progressive tenses, have + not in perfect tenses and have + be + not in perfect progressive tenses. To negate the verb be and all modal verbs , we simply add not .

Learn about negative sentences in English grammar with Lingolia’s simple lesson. Then practise your skills in the interactive exercises.

The boy is from England, but the girl is not from England.

They are not talking because she doesn’t speak English.

They have not got a dictionary.

We don’t use auxiliary verbs with modal verbs or with be when it is a main verb .

To negate a modal verb we put not between the modal verb and the main verb. In spoken and informal speech we usually use the contracted form.

When we use be as a main verb in the simple present or simple past , we simply put not after the form of be . In spoken and informal English we usually use a contraction.

We use do + not before the main verb to negate all other verbs in the simple present or the s imple past.

Note that main verb is used in the infinitive – only the auxiliary verb do is conjugated. We use does for the third person singular in the s imple present but do for all other persons and did for all forms in the s imple past .

The contracted forms of do + not are listed in the table below. They are preferred in spoken language:

Progressive, perfect and future tenses as well as sentences in the passive voice already have an auxiliary verb. To negate them, we simply put not between the auxiliary verb and the main verb.

We can also use contractions for the negated forms of have and will :

When the verb have indicates belonging or possession, there are two possible ways to construct the negation.

We can use the verb have with the auxiliary verb do, following the regular neagtion pattern for the simple present.

There is also the form have got . For the negation in this case, we don’t use do , instead we put not between have and got .

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Negative Sentences | Grammar Worksheet

It is easy to change an affirmative sentence to a negative sentence. We only have to put not after the auxiliary verb.

• She is a teacher. (Affirmative)
• She is not a teacher. (Negative)
• They have come. (Affirmative)
• They have not come. (Negative)
• It is raining. (Affirmative)
• It is not raining. (Negative)

If the affirmative sentence is in the simple present tense , we make the negative form with do not or does not .

Use do not when the subject is a plural noun or pronoun. The pronoun I and you also take do .

• She works here. (Affirmative)
• She does not work here. (Negative)
• You know the answer. (Affirmative)
• You do not know the answer. (Negative)
• Children usually rush about. (Affirmative)
• Children do not usually rush about. (Negative)

When the affirmative sentence is in the simple past tense , use did not .

• I saw him yesterday. (Affirmative)
• I did not see him yesterday. (Negative)

After do, does and did use the first form of the verb.

• You talked to him.
• You did not talk to him. (NOT You did not talked to him.)

Change the following affirmative sentences into negative sentences.

Change affirmative to negative

1. My mother makes delicious cakes.

2. Susan writes plays for television.

3. My sister runs a website.

4. They are anxious about his safety.

5. I was studying for the test.

6. It was an unforgettable experience.

7. We enjoyed the evening very much.

8. She recognized him instantly.

9. My dad wanted me to become a doctor.

10. He was interested in the offer.

11. They were waiting for our reply.

12. He admitted that he was wrong.

13. He denied the charge.

14. She refused to go with him.

15. I have finished working on the project.

1. My mother does not make delicious cakes.

2. Susan does not write plays for television.

3. My sister does not run a website.

4. They are not anxious about his safety.

5. I was not studying for the test.

6. It was not an unforgettable experience.

7. We did not enjoy the evening.

8. She did not recognize him instantly.

9. My dad did not want me to become a doctor.

10. He was not interested in the offer.

11. They were not waiting for our reply.

12. He did not admit that he was wrong.

13. He did not deny the charge.

14. She did not refuse to go with him.

15. I have not finished working on the project.

Change Affirmative to Negative Worksheet

1. He wants to be an actor.

2. She ran as fast as she could.

3. It took me an hour to finish the job.

4. They will arrive in the afternoon.

5. She was here yesterday.

6. I have learned my lesson.

7. The students have written their exam.

8. They have been waiting for us for long.

9. Our team won the trophy.

10. She failed her test.

11. They got married in July.

12. I met him at the club.

13. The teacher scolded the students.

14. I eat breakfast at 8.30.

15. She left in the morning.

16. I recognized him instantly.

17. We started in the morning.

18. He makes models from clay.

19. They finished the job in an hour.

20. I watched the football match on TV last night.

1. He does not want to be an actor.

2. She did not run as fast as she could.

3. It did not take me an hour to finish the job.

4. They will not arrive in the afternoon.

5. She was not here yesterday.

6. I have not learned my lesson.

7. The students have not written their exam.

8. They have not been waiting for us for long.

9. Our team did not win the trophy.

10. She did not fail her test.

11. They did not get married in July.

12. I did not meet him at the club.

13. The teacher did not scold the students.

14. I do not eat breakfast at 8.30.

15. She did not leave in the morning.

16. I did not recognize him instantly.

17. We did not start in the morning.

18. He does not make models from clay.

19. They did not finish the job in an hour.

20. I did not watch the football match on TV last night.

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• Writing Tips

Grammar: When to Use Do, Does, and Did

3-minute read

• 12th August 2022

Verbs are essential to creating complete sentences, as they help us express physical actions ( She jumped in the puddle) , mental actions ( He thought about puppies) , and states of being ( I am hungry) .

There are several types of verbs that can each be written in different tenses, so they can be tricky to work with, especially if English isn’t your first language . We’ve put together a guide to help you use one of the most common verbs, do , in your writing . Read on below to learn more!

Action Verbs

As the name suggests, action verbs are used to express actions completed by the subject of a sentence. The base verb do is conjugated according to the tense:

1. Present Tense

In the present tense, do takes the form do or does, depending on the subject:

Consider the following examples:

We do our homework every night.

   She does her homework every night.

2. Past Tense

In the simple past tense , the base verb do takes the form did with all subjects:

   We did our homework last night.

   She did her homework last night.

Auxiliary Verbs

Auxiliary , or helping verbs, are used with another base verb to create negative sentences, questions, or add emphasis. Here’s how do should be used as an auxiliary verb:

1. Negative Sentences

Following the same subject–verb pairings introduced above, we combine the auxiliaries do , does , and did with the adverb not to create negative sentences:

   We do not do our homework every night.

   She did not do her homework last night.

Note that we can combine the auxiliary and the adverb to create the contractions don’t , doesn’t , and didn’t . You simply remove the space between the two words and replace the letter o in not with an apostrophe (’).

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Contractions are more common in conversations and informal writing and typically shouldn’t be used in formal writing (e.g., academic or business).

2. Questions

To create questions, the auxiliary is combined with the infinitive of another verb in this way: auxiliary verb + subject + infinitive verb .

●  Simple present questions:

Do they sell children’s books?

Does he speak English?

Note that the third person verb speaks isn’t spelled with the s when paired with the auxiliary to form a question.

●  Simple past questions:

Did you buy anything at the bookstore?

Did he learn how to speak English?

Note that did indicates the past tense, so the main verbs don’t also take the past tense (i.e., bought and learned ).

3. Emphasis

In positive sentences, we can also combine the auxiliaries do , does , and did with the main verb to emphasize that something is true:

   We do sell children’s books.

   He did learn to speak English.

Try saying these sentences aloud and adding emphasis to the auxiliary terms with your tone. It adds a dramatic effect!

Proofreading and Editing Services

Hopefully, this guide will help you feel more confident when using different forms of the verb do in your writing. If you’re still learning or want to be sure your work is error-free, our editors are ready to help. You can upload a free trial document today to learn more!

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The Art of Negation: How to Formulate Negative Sentences in English

1. Introduction to Negative Sentences in English Grammar

Understanding the structure and usage of negative sentences is a fundamental aspect of mastering English grammar . A negative sentence, by definition, is a sentence that expresses a denial, disagreement, or negation. These sentences usually contain negative words such as ‘no’, ‘not’, ‘none’, ‘no one’, ‘nobody’, ‘nothing’, ‘neither’, ‘nowhere’, or ‘never’.

For instance, consider the sentence: “I do not like spinach.” Here, the word ‘not’ negates the verb ‘like’, thereby expressing a negative sentiment towards spinach. This is a basic example of a negative sentence in English.

The importance of understanding negative sentences cannot be overstated. They are used extensively in both written and spoken English, across a variety of contexts. Whether you’re reading a novel, engaging in a debate, or simply having a casual conversation , negative sentences are a crucial component of effective communication.

In the following sections, we will delve deeper into the formation of negative sentences, explore examples, and provide interactive exercises to help you practice and improve your understanding of this essential grammar topic. Stay tuned for a comprehensive guide on negative sentences in English grammar.

2. Formation of Negative Sentences

Understanding the formation of negative sentences is a crucial aspect of mastering English grammar. The structure of a negative sentence in English typically involves the use of an auxiliary verb and a negative word.

Role of Auxiliary Verbs in Negative Sentences

Auxiliary verbs, also known as helping verbs, are used in conjunction with the main verb to express the verb’s tense, mood, or voice. In negative sentences, auxiliary verbs play a pivotal role. They precede the negative words such as ‘not’, ‘no’, ‘never’, etc., to form a negative sentence. For instance, in the sentence “I do not like spinach”, ‘do’ is the auxiliary verb that helps form the negative sentence.

Common auxiliary verbs used in negative sentences include ‘be’, ‘do’, and ‘have’. However, the choice of auxiliary verb depends on the tense of the sentence. For example, in the present simple tense, we use ‘do’ or ‘does’ as the auxiliary verb. In contrast, in the present continuous tense, ‘am’, ‘is’, or ‘are’ are used.

Use of Negative Words

Negative words are essential components of negative sentences. They negate or reverse the meaning of the sentence. The most commonly used negative words in English are ‘not’, ‘no’, ‘none’, ‘no one’, ‘nobody’, ‘nothing’, ‘neither’, ‘nowhere’, and ‘never’.

For example, consider the sentence, “She is not going to the party”. Here, ‘not’ is the negative word that negates the action of going to the party.

Use of Negative Forms

In addition to using negative words, English also has negative forms like ‘don’t’ (do not), ‘doesn’t’ (does not), ‘aren’t’ (are not), and ‘isn’t’ (is not). These negative forms are contractions, where the auxiliary verb and the negative word ‘not’ are combined.

For instance, instead of saying “I do not like spinach”, you can use the negative form and say “I don’t like spinach”. Both sentences convey the same meaning, but the latter is more commonly used in informal speech.

In the next section, we will look at various examples of negative sentences, which will further clarify these concepts.

3. Examples of Negative Sentences

Understanding the concept of negative sentences in English grammar is best achieved through examples. Here, we will provide 10 examples of negative sentences, explain a negative sentence with an example, and show how to convert positive sentences into negative ones. We will also discuss the use of modal verbs in negative sentences.

3.1 Ten Examples of Negative Sentences

• I do not like broccoli.
• She isn’t going to the concert tonight.
• They don’t live in New York.
• We didn’t finish the project on time.
• He can’t swim in the deep end of the pool.
• You shouldn’t drive without a seatbelt.
• It doesn’t rain much in the desert.
• The movie wasn’t very interesting.
• I haven’t visited the new museum yet.
• They won’t arrive until later this evening.

Each of these sentences is negative because they express a situation or action that is not happening, doesn’t exist, or is prohibited.

3.2 Explanation of a Negative Sentence with Example

Let’s take the sentence “She isn’t going to the concert tonight.” This is a negative sentence because it indicates an action that is not taking place. The word “isn’t” is a contraction of “is not,” which negates the action expressed by the verb “going.” Thus, the sentence expresses that she is not participating in the action of going to the concert.

3.3 Conversion of Positive Sentences to Negative Sentences

Converting positive sentences to negative ones involves adding a negation word such as “not” or “never,” or a negative contraction like “don’t,” “doesn’t,” “isn’t,” etc. For example, the positive sentence “I like broccoli” can be converted into a negative sentence by adding “do not” before the verb “like,” resulting in “I do not like broccoli.”

3.4 Use of Modal Verbs in Negative Sentences

Modal verbs like “can,” “could,” “should,” “would,” etc., when used in negative sentences, express prohibition, impossibility, or doubt. For instance, in the sentence “He can’t swim in the deep end of the pool,” the modal verb “can’t” (a contraction of “cannot”) indicates the impossibility of the action.

By understanding these examples and concepts, you can form and use negative sentences effectively in English grammar. In the next section, we will delve into the process of forming negative sentences in English.

4. How to Form Negative Sentences in English

Understanding how to form negative sentences in English is a crucial aspect of mastering English grammar. The process involves the use of auxiliary verbs, modal verbs, and negation words. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do negative sentences in English, ensuring you achieve the best score in your English grammar exercises and practice.

Step 1: Identify the Verb

The first step in forming a negative sentence in English is to identify the main verb in the sentence. This could be an action verb (e.g., run, eat, write), a linking verb (e.g., is, are, was), or a modal verb (e.g., can, could, will).

Step 2: Use an Auxiliary Verb or Modal Verb

If the sentence is in the present simple or past simple tense and does not contain a modal verb, use the auxiliary verbs ‘do’ or ‘did’ for the negation. For example, in the sentence “I play football”, “play” is the main verb. The negative sentence would be “I do not play football”.

If the sentence contains a modal verb, simply add ‘not’ after the modal verb. For example, in the sentence “She can swim”, “can” is the modal verb. The negative sentence would be “She cannot swim” or “She can’t swim”.

Step 3: Add ‘Not’

The word ‘not’ is used to negate the sentence. It is placed after the auxiliary verb or modal verb. For example, in the sentence “He is reading a book”, “is” is the auxiliary verb. The negative sentence would be “He is not reading a book”.

Step 4: Check Your Sentence

Finally, make sure your sentence makes sense and follows the correct English grammar rules. Remember, practice makes perfect. Use interactive exercises and tools like Lingolia Plus to practice and improve your ability to form negative sentences in English.

By following these steps, you can effectively form negative sentences in English. This skill is essential for expressing negation, denials, disagreements, and falsities, making your English communication more versatile and accurate.

5. Types of Negative Sentences

In the realm of English grammar, negative sentences play a crucial role in conveying negations, denials, and disagreements. They are formed using auxiliary verbs, modal verbs, and negative words such as ‘not’, ‘no’, ‘never’, and ‘none’. To gain a comprehensive understanding of negative sentences, it’s essential to explore their usage in different tenses.

Negative Sentences in Simple Tenses

Negative sentences in simple tenses are straightforward and easy to understand. They involve the use of auxiliary verbs ‘do’ and ‘does’ in the present simple tense, and ‘did’ in the past simple tense. For instance:

• Present Simple: “I do not like spinach.” or “She does not play the piano.”
• Past Simple: “They did not go to the concert.”

In these examples, the auxiliary verb is followed by ‘not’ to indicate negation.

Negative Sentences in Present Tense

In the present tense, negative sentences can be formed in both the present simple and present continuous tenses. The present simple negative structure uses ‘do not’ or ‘does not’ before the base form of the main verb, while the present continuous uses ‘am not’, ‘is not’, or ‘are not’ before the present participle (-ing form) of the main verb. For example:

• Present Simple: “He does not read books.”
• Present Continuous: “We are not eating dinner right now.”

Negative Sentences in Past Tense

Negative sentences in the past tense are formed using ‘did not’ in the past simple tense and ‘was not’ or ‘were not’ in the past continuous tense. For instance:

• Past Simple: “She did not finish her homework.”
• Past Continuous: “They were not sleeping when the alarm went off.”

Negative Sentences in Future Tense

In the future tense, negative sentences are typically formed using ‘will not’ or the contraction ‘won’t’. For example:

• Future Simple: “I will not be late for the meeting.”

By understanding how to form negative sentences in these various tenses, you can enhance your English grammar skills and express negation more effectively. In the next section, we’ll delve into interactive exercises that can help you practice and improve your understanding of negative sentences.

6. Common Mistakes in Negative Sentences

Understanding the correct formation of negative sentences in English grammar is crucial, but it’s equally important to be aware of the common mistakes that can occur. This section will highlight some of these frequent errors and provide tips on how to avoid them, ensuring your use of negative sentences is grammatically sound.

6.1 Incorrect Use of Auxiliary Verbs

One of the most common mistakes in forming negative sentences is the incorrect use of auxiliary verbs. Remember, the auxiliary verb ‘do’ is often used in negative sentences, but its form changes according to the tense. For example, in the present tense, we use ‘do not’ or ‘don’t’ and in the past tense, we use ‘did not’ or ‘didn’t’. Misusing these forms can lead to incorrect negative sentences.

Incorrect: She don’t like apples. Correct: She doesn’t like apples.

6.2 Double Negatives

In English grammar, two negatives create a positive, which can change the entire meaning of your sentence. This is a common mistake that can easily be avoided.

Incorrect: I don’t need no help. Correct: I don’t need any help.

6.3 Negation with Modal Verbs

Modal verbs such as can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, and would require ‘not’ to form a negative sentence. A common mistake is to use ‘don’t’ or ‘doesn’t’ with these modal verbs.

Incorrect: She doesn’t can swim. Correct: She can’t swim.

6.4 Incorrect Placement of ‘Not’

The placement of ‘not’ in a sentence is crucial to its meaning. ‘Not’ should be placed after the auxiliary verb or the modal verb. Incorrect placement of ‘not’ is a common mistake.

Incorrect: She likes not apples. Correct: She does not like apples.

By avoiding these common mistakes, you can ensure that your negative sentences are grammatically correct and convey the intended meaning. Remember, practice is key when it comes to mastering negative sentences in English grammar. Utilize interactive exercises and resources like Lingolia Plus to improve your understanding and usage of negative sentences.

7. Negative Sentences in Different Languages

Understanding the concept of negative sentences is not only crucial for mastering English grammar but also for learning other languages. The formation of negative sentences can vary significantly across languages, and understanding these differences can enhance your language learning journey.

In this section, we will focus on forming negative sentences in Spanish, a language that is widely spoken and learned around the world. This will provide a comparative perspective to our main keyword, “negative sentence,” and enrich our understanding of this grammatical concept.

Spanish Negative Sentences

In Spanish, the formation of negative sentences is slightly different from English. The most common way to negate a sentence in Spanish is by placing the word ‘no’ before the verb. For example, the English sentence “I speak” translates to “Hablo” in Spanish. To negate this, we would say “No hablo,” which means “I do not speak.”

However, Spanish also uses other negative words such as ‘nada’ (nothing), ‘nadie’ (nobody), ‘ninguno’ (none), and ‘jamás’ (never). These words can be used to form negative sentences in different contexts. For example, “Nadie habla” means “Nobody speaks.”

Comparison with English Negative Sentences

Comparing the formation of negative sentences in Spanish and English can provide valuable insights. While both languages use a negative word before the verb (no in Spanish, do not/don’t in English), Spanish has a more flexible structure. In English, the auxiliary verb ‘do’ is often needed to form a negative sentence, while in Spanish, the word ‘no’ can be directly placed before the main verb.

This comparison not only enriches our understanding of the keyword “negative sentence” but also highlights the fascinating differences and similarities between languages. As we continue to explore English grammar and its various aspects, such comparisons can provide a broader perspective and deepen our understanding.

In the next section, we will delve into interactive exercises and practice, which will help solidify our understanding of negative sentences in English and potentially in other languages like Spanish.

9. Negative Sentences in Different Languages

Understanding the concept of negative sentences is not only crucial for mastering English grammar but also for learning other languages. The formation of negative sentences varies across languages, and understanding these differences can enhance your language learning journey.

In this section, we will focus on forming negative sentences in Spanish, a language that is widely spoken and learned around the world. This will provide a comparative perspective and deepen your understanding of the concept of negation in grammar.

Negative Sentences in Spanish

In Spanish, the formation of negative sentences is slightly different from English. The word “no” is placed before the verb to negate a sentence. For example, the English sentence “I do not speak Spanish” translates to “No hablo español” in Spanish. Notice how the word “no” precedes the verb “hablo” (speak).

Another interesting aspect of Spanish negation is the use of double negatives, which is grammatically correct and common. For instance, “No veo a nadie” translates to “I don’t see anyone”. Here, both “no” and “nadie” (nobody) contribute to the negation.

Comparing these Spanish examples with English negative sentences, we can see some key differences. In English, we use auxiliary verbs like “do not”, “does not”, or “did not” to form negative sentences in simple tenses. However, in Spanish, negation can be achieved simply by adding “no” before the verb.

Understanding these differences is crucial for mastering negative sentences in both English and Spanish. It also highlights the fascinating diversity of language structures and grammar rules across different languages.

In the next section, we will provide interactive exercises to practice forming negative sentences in English, which will further solidify your understanding of this important grammatical concept.

Remember, practice is key when it comes to mastering any aspect of grammar, including negative sentences. So, keep practicing and don’t hesitate to revisit any sections of this article if you need a refresher.

10. Conclusion

In this comprehensive guide, we’ve delved into the intricacies of negative sentences in English grammar. We’ve explored their formation, the critical role of auxiliary verbs, and the usage of negative words and forms. We’ve also provided a plethora of examples, including a detailed explanation of a negative sentence with an example, and a list of 10 negative sentence examples to further your understanding.

We’ve also discussed how to form negative sentences in English, offering a step-by-step guide and valuable tips to help you master the process. The importance of understanding the different types of negative sentences, including those in simple tenses and various other tenses, has been highlighted.

To ensure you get ample practice, we’ve included interactive exercises and encouraged the use of resources like Lingolia Plus . We’ve also addressed common mistakes in forming negative sentences and provided guidance on how to avoid them.

In a unique twist, we’ve compared the formation of negative sentences in English with Spanish, offering a broader perspective on the topic. The role of the main verb in negative sentences was also discussed, with a focus on using a verb conjugator to practice tenses in negative sentences.

As we conclude, it’s important to remember that mastering negative sentences in English grammar is a crucial step in becoming proficient in the language. It’s not just about understanding the rules, but also about practicing and applying them in real-life contexts. So, continue practicing, use the interactive exercises, and don’t hesitate to revisit this guide whenever you need a refresher. Remember, every ‘not’ you correctly place brings you one step closer to mastering English grammar!

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Forming negative statements, questions and imperatives

Negative statements.

We form negative statements with not or n’t after be , modal and auxiliary verbs . n’t is the contracted form of not . In informal language we can add n’t , without a space, to be , to modal verbs (except may ) and to auxiliary verbs ( do and have ). The negative contracted form of will is won’t . The uncontracted form of can + not is cannot .

Jan isn’t coming. She’s not feeling very well.

She might not be joking. It could be true.

They don’t go to school on Wednesday afternoons.

Living in a small flat does not make it easy to have pets.

I hadn’t decided whether to take the train or go in the car.

They can’t be hungry again. They’ve only just eaten.

Negative questions

We use not or n’t to form negative questions. When there is no modal verb or be , we use auxiliary verb do + n’t ( don’t, do not, doesn’t, does not, didn’t ):

Why didn’t you ask Linda?

What don’t you understand?

Won’t we able to see the film?

Isn’t that Mike’s brother?

Negative imperatives

We use do + not or don’t + the base form of a verb to form negative orders or commands:

Do not open until instructed.

Don’t take the car. Go on your bike.

Declarative clauses

Not and n’t in questions ( Did you not …? Wasn’t she …?)

Don’t, Do not : orders and instructions

Let ’s, let : suggestions, offers, imperatives

Word of the Day

ride off into the sunset

to begin a new, happy life at the end of a story

Searching out and tracking down: talking about finding or discovering things

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• Transcription

Negation in English

There is a simpler guide to question and negative forms in the initial plus training section.

Negation is not a simple area so this guide is quite long. If you are here for the first time, the advice is to work through it sequentially but if you are returning to check something, here's a list of the contents to take you to its various sections. Clicking on -top- at the end of each section will bring you back to this menu.

English is no different from many languages in having a number of ways to make negatives.  How English does it is, however, not simple.  Here are some examples of negatives:

• John didn't eat any cake.
• Didn't John eat any chocolate?
• I reject the idea that John at any cake.
• John denied eating any chocolate.
• John hardly ate any cake.
• John can't have eaten any chocolate.
• Which cake didn't John eat?
• John wouldn't mind some chocolate.
• John never eats any cake.
• John may not eat any chocolate.

One of the examples is not negative.  Click here when you have spotted it .

Right.  Sentence 8 is the odd one.  Although grammatically it looks negative, it is functionally a positive statement (or even a request).  Note that it is the only sentence in which the determiner is some rather than any .  The distinction between the two determiners is a good test of whether an utterance is, in fact, negative or not in its function.  Compare, for example:     Don't you want some chocolate? vs.     Don't you want any chocolate? The sentence with some can be construed as an offer, not a question or a negative, but the sentence with any is a real, negative question probably showing some surprise. The some- series of determiners and pronouns are referred to as assertive forms in contrast to the any- series which are non-assertive.  For more, see the guide to assertion and non-assertion (new tab).

It is not the verb which is being negated – it is the verb phrase plus its object and any adverbials.  We are discussing what is known as the scope of the negation. Sentence a) states that the police left the road open. Sentence b) states that the police closed part of the road. The verb is being negated in sentence a), the verb phrase including its object and the adverbial in sentence b). The tendency in English to apply negation to phrases rather than words can lead to a considerable amount of ambiguity.  What, for example, do you understand by the following negative statements?

• He didn't speak to the girl in the red dress at the party.
• She didn't meet the man who bought the house on Thursday.

Click here when you have a response .

Both sentences are ambiguous and mean either:

• He didn't speak to the girl in the red dress or He spoke to the girl in the red dress but not at the party
• She didn't meet the man who bought the house or She met the man who bought the house but not on Thursday (In this case, too, incidentally, we do not know whether the Thursday applies to when she didn't meet the man or whether the man bought the house on Thursday.)

We can disambiguate these to some extent when speaking by stressing the element we want to negate:

• He didn't speak to the girl in the red dress at the party .
• She didn't meet the man who bought the house on Thursday .

In written language, we have to alter the ordering of the elements to make meaning clearer.  For example:

• At the party, he didn't speak to the girl in the red dress.
• On Thursday, she didn't meet the man who bought the house.

Even then, some ambiguity might remain so to be 100% clear, we need to rephrase entirely with something like:

• He didn't speak to the girl in the red dress until after the party.
• She didn't meet the man who bought the house until the following Friday.

A general, if sloppy, rule: If the negation is ambiguous, hearers will usually assume that it is the final part of the sentence that is being negated.  So for example:     He didn't drive means he travelled in a different way     He didn't drive my car implies he drove his own or someone else's car and     He didn't drive my car carefully will normally be understood to mean:     He drove my car carelessly rather than     He didn't drive my car In other words, if there is a danger of some ambiguity , the scope of negation is confined to the final element of a negative utterance.

The fact that negation applies to the verb phrase overrules the assumption that it is the final element that is being negated.  For example, in:      He didn't always come by car it is the verb phrase (and the adverbial), (always) come , that is being negated, not the prepositional phrase, by car , so it is understood to mean:     He sometimes came by car not      He never came by car

See also below under ambiguous negation.

The scope of negation can be signalled by the use (or not) of assertive rather than non-assertive forms. There is a separate guide to assertion and non-assertion on the site, linked in the list of related guides at the end, because more than negation is affected.  Briefly, however, assertive forms are most commonly used in positive sentences and non-assertive forms in negatives and interrogatives.  So, for example:     I don't have any money     We haven't started yet     Would you like anything else?     I don't needs anyone's help all contain non-assertive forms: any, yet, anything and anyone . On the other hand:     I have some news     I have already finished     I want something stronger     There is someone at the door all contain assertive forms: some, already, something and someone.

There is, however, a rule functioning here to determine where in the clause the negation stops (i.e., how it is limited). For example, in:      I didn't hear any of the music we have the non-assertive form and so the whole of the clause is negated and means that no music was heard. However, in:      I didn't hear some of the music the negation stops at the verb and the sentence implies that I did, in fact, hear some of the music but not all of it. The rule is that when a non-assertive form is used, it must lie outside the scope of negation. As a final example, compare:     I didn't talk to any of the children with     I didn't talk to some of the children. In the first case, no children were spoken to by me and in the second case some children only were not spoken to by me.

The simple rule is that the assertive form stops the negation in its tracks.

Here's a diagrammatic way of understanding the scope of negation:

Negation begins with the negator and continues to the end of the clause so what comes before the negator is left in peace. For example:     She doesn't still have your book = She had your book once but no longer but     She still doesn't have your book = You have not yet given it to her and     He didn't frequently go = He went sometimes     He didn't go frequently = He went seldom but      He frequently didn't go = He often failed to go Where the adverbial is positioned in a negative sentence is, therefore, critical to how it is understood. The same consideration applies when the adverbial is modifying other elements.  For example:     Not only Mary will be late = Other people will also be late but     Mary will not only be late = She will also do something else (such as complain about something)

Other adverbials, such as prepositional phrases which come at the end of clauses may fall within the scope of negation or outside it as we saw above so, in spoken language, the preposition may be stressed to signal the adverbial is part of the negation but lack of stress and a falling intonation contour signals that the adverbial lies outside the negation.  For example, compare:     I didn't speak to her AT the party which signals that I spoke to her at some other time (probably before or after the party) with     I didn't speak to her at the party which does not imply that I spoke to her at any other time, either (but I may have).

For adverbs which are themselves negative ( rarely, barely, seldom etc.), see below.

The focus of negation is closely related to its scope but is not signalled in written English (except through underlining , bold or italic type face etc.). So, to signal where we feel the focus lies in spoken English, we emphasise the element in question, a phenomenon known as special or contrastive sentence stress.  Compare, for example:

• but we know that someone bought the book
• but we know that John bought something
• but we know that John now has the book

In all these cases, the emphasis falls on the negated item only and the rest of the clause is not negated at all.

In written English, the same effect may be obtained by rephrasing the clause to make it clear what we mean and that often involves the use of cleft or pseudo-cleft sentences such as:

However, no true cleft sentence can stress the verb because:      *It wasn't buy that John did to the book is not available, so we substitute something unambiguous like:     John didn't buy the book, he stole it. or a pseudo-cleft, and slightly ambiguous, sentence such as     What John didn't do was buy the book

There is a separate guide to cleft and pseudo-cleft sentences linked from the list of related guides at the end.

English negates imperatives in two distinct ways (and other languages tend to settle on one or the other):

There is a rather rare imperative form in English which retains the pronoun so, instead of     Go away! we can have the very insistent and rude:     You go away! Because this form is so insistent, it cannot be used with a softener so while we can say     Please go away we cannot have     *Please you go away This form of the imperative can be negated and, when it is, carries a sense of threat:     Don't you talk to me like that!     Don't you stay out too late now!

Normally, exclamations are not negatable.  For example, we can have:     How beautiful it is! but not     *How beautiful it isn't! Some languages may allow this form.  (Graham Taylor, an erstwhile England football manager, was once nationally lampooned in Britain for exclaiming Do I not like that! )

There is a form of negative exclamation, however, which is seen in, for example:     Isn't that beautiful! which is not a real question at all but a simple exclamation. We can also use a negator to perform a similar function as in, e.g.:     Never have I seen such a beautiful sight!     Scarcely have I been so surprised! Note, by the way, the conventional inversion of subject and verb in these.  In fact, what English does is make a question form rather than simply inverting the word order as in, e.g.:     Never did I see such idiocy! See below for more on this.

English does not normally permit double or multiple negation in formal language so we do not allow, e.g.:     *I don't want nothing     *They didn't meet nobody     *She wasn't never listening     *Nobody doesn't want it     *I don't want nothing from nobody no time all of which are commonplace in a number of languages (including, for example, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Greek and Italian).  In those and other languages, the double negation often serves to emphasise the sense of the negation.  Double negation may also simply be the grammatical form of negation as it is in modern Greek, for example, where a sentence such as:     I don't want anything is often translatable as:      I don't want nothing Double negation can also have the effect of cancelling out the negation and making the statement positive. These sorts of double negation are also common in a variety of dialects of English but are generally seen as non-standard or even sub-standard.

English allows a double negative in certain circumstances.

There are two aspects of alternative negation (i.e., two ways to denote a negative of the same utterance).

With some structures, English also has two possible negative forms which do not affect the scope or focus of negation:

• The structures in the left-hand column are often seen as more colloquial than those in the right-hand column.  In many dialects of English, however, they are the preferred forms.
• Some abbreviated structures cannot exist in the first-person singular as an alternative to, e.g.:     I'm not ready We do not allow     *I amn't ready or even     *I aren't ready The negative of am in interrogatives and questions tags causes problems all round because the form is usually:     Am I not coming, too? or     I am coming too, aren't I? the first of which often seems too formal because no abbreviated (enclitic) form of not is available:     *Amn't I coming, too? or we can have     Aren't I coming, too? which often seems too informal because we can only use the enclitic form and:     *Are I not coming, too?     *I am coming, too, are not I? are not available to us.
• If the more colloquial form of have is selected, the use of got is obligatory. We can have     They've not got the right answer but not:     *They've not the right answer although:     He hasn't the money and     He hasn't got the money are both acceptable.

The second form of alternative negation involves negating a different element of the clause, instead of the verb. There are two types:

Occasionally, especially in writing where the use of emphasis, tone units and special sentence stress is less available, some negative statements can be ambiguous and must be rephrased to make the scope of negation clear.  For example:

In spoken language, the senses can be disambiguated by stressing the determiners any and a few , stressing the pre-determiners half (of) and all (of) , stressing the subordinating conjunction because or the preposition due to and by placing a rising intonation contour on she would be here and his working style . In written English, that form of disambiguation is not available so careful writers will rephrase to avoid the possible confusion. See also the ways the use of assertive and non-assertive forms can serve to disambiguate in the guide to assertion and non-assertion linked in the list of related guides at the end.

These three word classes have two forms of negation and they work like this:

A few notes on the above:

• The table isn't complete because there are some less frequent negations, e.g.:     She's happy, too → She's not happy either [but not *She's happy neither ]     They are, to some extent, contented → They aren't at all contented [but not *They are none contented ]
• Apart from the use of never , the structures in the right-hand column are more formal than those in the middle column. 
• The pronouns in column 3 are singular although native speakers often pluralise the verb to form, for example, the questionable     I asked them all but none are coming. Issues of proximity concord are in play here.  For more, see the guide to concord linked from the list of related guides at the end.
• In the initial position, as the subject of the verb, only the forms in the third column are possible:     Nobody was late [not *Anybody wasn't late ]     Neither was ready [not *Either wasn't ready ] etc. Many other languages do allow these forms of negation.
• We can also, somewhat formally, front the adjunct as we saw above but not without forming a question word order in the sentence:     Never would I have believed ...     Not until then did I realise ...
• Once negated, the whole utterance and all following adverbs, pronouns and determiners are usually negated in the same way so we get, e.g.:     Neither of the children was looking very happy and none of the adults was smiling either not     *Neither of the children was looking happy and any of the adults weren't smiling either and     I haven't been anywhere yet not     *I haven't been anywhere already
• She didn't eat any of the cake
• She didn't eat some of the cake

In sentence A, the whole sentence is negated (hence the use of any ) and the meaning is     She ate no cake In sentence B, however, only the verb is negated because the object noun phrase includes the assertive some and the meaning is     There was some of the cake left which she did not eat Just possibly, in spoken English, with the emphasis heavily on some , the sentence could mean     She ate all the cake (not just some of it)

These five adverbs are sometimes known as negators because they operate similarly to the true negator never . Most analyses include the following points but this site has done its own research, the outcomes of which throw a little doubt on the consistency of these characteristics (see below for more on that).  For example:

• I seldom went anywhere
• She barely saw anything
• They hardly had any time to think
• She scarcely ever comes late
• They rarely come to anyone's party
• Seldom have I heard such nonsense
• Rarely does he believe me
• Hardly had I arrived when the phone range
• Barely audibly did she speak
• Scarcely credible was their explanation
• They never like anything, do they?
• They scarcely said anything, did they?
• You seldom agree, do you?
• I hardly had time, did I?
• You seldom agree, don't you?
• I hardly had time, didn't I?
• It was barely audible, wasn't it?
• I never had much time, did I? and we do not allow:
• *I never had much time, didn't I?

All five of these take non-assertive forms, for example:      They have scarcely anything to say     She has hardly any money left     We barely ever go anywhere these days     They have seldom done anything     We never see anybody The assertive forms:      *They have scarcely something     *She has hardly some money left     *We barely go somewhere     *They have seldom done something     *We never see somebody are usually disallowed. (The scope of negation can, however, be restricted to exclude the object so both:     She seldom said something nice and     She seldom said anything nice are both possible although the first is rarer and excludes the object from the negation.)

Because these negating adverbs carry the negative sense, they are not themselves negated because that would produce a double negation not allowed in English.  So:     *I don't seldom go     *She doesn't rarely come     *They don't have hardly any     *He didn't barely understand etc. are all disallowed (but see above under double negation for the rare times when they are possible). All of the above may be allowed in other languages and that is a source of error.

The assumptions in many grammatical analyses (e.g., Quirk et al , 1972, Chalker, 1984 and Thornbury, 2017) are that:

• All these negators are used with non-assertive forms
• All take positive rather than negative tag question elements

and it is these two assumption that the research set out to investigate. Over 30 native speakers of English were asked to grade a set of 20 sentences containing the negators with various forms of tags and assertive or non-assertive pronouns or determiners.  The categories to select from were: 100% acceptable, Marginally acceptable, Marginally unacceptable, 100% unacceptable and the 20 items were:

You may like to classify those sentences into those four categories in your head before you move on. Then, or otherwise, click here for a summary of the outcomes in percentages .

Conclusions

You can, of course, draw your own from the findings here but here's what were felt to be the most important:

• never : (Item 3) 97% (this is an indication, of course, that the adverb is universally seen as negative)
• barely : (Item 1) 90% of the time
• seldom : (Item 5) 87% of the time
• hardly ever : (Item 7) 93% of the time
• scarcely : (Item 9) 83% of the time
• rarely : (Item 11) 3% of the time
• never : (Item 4) 93% full rejection but 3% full acceptance and 3% marginal acceptance
• barely : (Item 2) 53% full rejection but 10% full acceptance and 10% marginal acceptance
• seldom : (Item 6) 63% full rejection but 10% full acceptance and 13% marginal acceptance
• hardly ever : (Item 8) 73% full rejection but 10% full acceptance and 7% marginal acceptance
• scarcely : (Item 10) 57% full rejection but 23% full acceptance and 7% marginal acceptance
• rarely : (Item 12) 63% full rejection but 27% full acceptance and 3% marginal acceptance
• With assertive determiners and pronouns we found that the scope of negation can be limited with two of the items but that is not universally recognised because:     Item 18: She rarely says something was fully accepted by 20% and considered marginally acceptable by 40% with only 20% finding it wholly unacceptable (as we would not expect at all)     Item 19: She seldom said something nice was fully accepted by 33% and considered marginally acceptable by 43% with only 10% finding it wholly unacceptable (as we would not expect at all) This result partially parallels the cline we saw above because rarely lies on the right and seldom in the middle. The word scarcely is something of an oddity because while it shares the same level of acceptability with rarely concerning tag questions, Item 15 ( I scarcely saw someone ) was rejected by 90% of respondents. For the other negators, the assumption was that the whole of the following text was negated and, therefore, the items were understood as distinctly negative. We may take it that the words seldom and rarely are perceived as slightly less negative than the other four adverbials.
• These adverbs may well be negative but they are not as negative as the true negator, never .
• Both scarcely and hardly are also followed routinely by ever which would appear to enhance the negativity with which it is seen.  Deliberately, for this little survey, only hardly was paired with ever and that comes out as almost as negative as never but scarcely alone as we see from the cline is viewed considerably more positively.
• It seems that with assertive or non-assertive pronouns and determiners, that the situation is mixed because the scope of negation can be called into play to make what would appear to be malformed sentences acceptable so, arguably, we can accept, e.g.:     I hardly ever meet someone I know at his parties     She rarely says something stupid     We seldom listen to some kinds of music     They have scarcely spoken to some of the guests     We barely know some of the people here which all reduce the scope of negation to the verb phrase but leave the object positive (or assertive).

The implications for teaching are not huge because the data show that treating the items as negative will rarely if ever result in a malformed or unacceptable utterance but, on the other hand, that treating them as potentially positive is also acceptable, especially in the cases of inserting tag questions. The scope of negation issue remains and it is non-intuitive for many learners who may well not be aware of the difference between:     She seldom talked to some of the children and     She seldom talked to any of the children and at more advanced levels, this needs to be highlighted so that learners can notice what is happening..

We need to distinguish here between a little and little and between a few and few because, with the article, these determiners mean an adequate amount and operate perfectly normally, taking assertive forms so we get, e.g.:     A few people had something to say     A little money has already been made

However, when they are used without the article, these determiners signal an in adequate amount and are negative so we allow:     Few people had anything to say     Little money has ever been made but not     *Few people had something to say unless we are deliberately leaving the object out of the scope of negation (see above)     *Little money has already been made

When only means no more or other than it also functions as a negator so we encounter, e.g.:     Only Mary knew anything and not, usually:     Only Mary knew something unless, again, we are deliberately leaving the object out of the scope of negation (see above).

Like other negators, these three words do not always take positive question tags so the usual form is, for example:     Only Mary knew anything, didn't she?     Few people had anything to say, didn't they?     Little change is necessary, isn't it? although positive question tags may be used as in, e.g.:     Only Mary knew anything, did she?     Few people had anything to say, did they?     Little change is necessary, is it? but that is very much rarer.

The adverb little works in a similar fashion to the barely, scarcely, rarely etc. group including obligatory inversion when in initial position:      He little realised that any danger was involved     Little did he realise the danger it involved

These two adverbs are not, in themselves, negative but they imply a negative outcome in a way that barely, scarcely, hardly etc. do not.  Compare, for example, these pairs of sentences:     They scarcely survived the accident but they did     They almost survived the accident but didn't     She barely arrived in time so was not late     She nearly arrived in time but was late      I had hardly got home when I started to feel unwell but I was home     I had nearly / almost got home when I started to feel unwell and I was not home.

Additionally, these adverbs modify negative or non-assertive pronouns but not their parallel assertive forms so we allow:     I have almost nowhere to put it     They have nearly nothing to say     We had almost nobody to talk to     Almost anybody will tell you     Nearly anything you bring will be welcome etc. but we do not allow:      *I have almost somewhere to put it     *The have nearly something to say     *We had almost someone to talk to     *Almost somebody will tell you     *Nearly something you bring will be welcome

This is not an intuitively obvious restriction and it does not apply in many languages so leads to error.

Fronting of adverbs occurs routinely in many, especially Germanic, languages and is often followed by the inversion of subject and verb.  For example:     Yesterday I went to London translates in German as:      Gestern ging ich nach London in Dutch as:     Gisteren ging ik naar Londen and in Swedish as     Igår gick jag till London all literally:      Yesterday went I to London.

The peculiarity in English is twofold:

• inversion only occurs with fronted adverbials when they carry a negative sense (although it can occur with place adverbials in, e.g.:     Here she comes     There it goes )
• inversion in this case (but not with place adjuncts) requires the insertion of the do -operator with simple present and past tense forms

Here's how it works but some of the forms are very formal and unusual and most are more formal than the equivalents in the left-hand column:

With the correlative negative conjunctions, a similar phenomenon occurs, but the conjunction is often fronted in the subsequent clause and it is only the second clause in which the inversion occurs:

In all cases in English, fronting the element draws attention to and emphasises its meaning.  That is to say, this ordering in English is marked for special attention.  Languages which routinely front adverbials have no such marking and the fronted adverbial carries no special significance. Learners who are unaware of this fact and told that fronting the adverbial is simply an option which carries no special meaning will be misled and it may be a source of error either in producing unintentionally marked language or in not interpreting what is heard or read as being marked.

Negative question forms have a range of functions, many signalled by intonation.  See also the use of negative question forms in exclamations, above.

• Does nobody love me? [I assume nobody loves me]
• Can't you get here any earlier? [I assume you can't but I'm hoping you can]
• Won't you reconsider? [I assume you won't]
• Isn't it too cold to go swimming? [I assumed it was]
• Aren't you too old for this? [I assumed you were]
• Hasn't he left yet? [I assumed he had]
• Compare: Hasn't he left already ? [I assume he has]
• Shouldn't you be in bed ? [I am disappointed or surprised that you are not]
• Can't you help a bit? [I am disappointed that you are not helping]

English has a peculiarity with negation which causes a good deal of difficulty. Most languages will put the negation where it belongs, i.e., with the verb that is being negated. For example:     I think that he hasn't done it yet     I expect he won't come     I imagine she has no money etc. In all these cases, we have a verb signalling belief followed by a subordinate clause which is negated in some way. English, bizarrely, often chooses to negate the main clause and leave the subordinate clause positive.  This is why it is called transferred or raised negation.  It only occurs with verbs signalling belief or assumption such as: believe, suppose, fancy, imagine, reckon, expect etc.

This is deeply illogical and confusing because the negation really belongs with the subordinate, not the main, clause.  The proof of this is to consider the natural question tag because the positive question tag reveals the negative meaning of the clause:     I don't suppose he is coming now, is he? (not do I? or isn't he? )     I don't reckon we'll be there before 8, will we? (not do I? or won't we? )

There is, in fact, a small danger of some ambiguity when negation is transferred (or understood to be transferred).  So, for example:     John doesn't think his sister is happy can be interpreted two ways:      John believes his sister is unhappy or      John does not think his sister is happy, he knows she is. The second interpretation is rare and will be signalled as such, either by the insertion of an additional clause as above or by heavy emphasis being placed on the main verb.

... not all such verbs allow this transfer. For example, assume and presume do not work this way:     I assume you haven't paid [assumption = you haven't paid ] is not the same as     I don't assume you've paid [no assumption made] The verb hope is also odd because it will not allow the transfer:     I don't hope it rains [= I do not hope for rain but I may expect rain ] is not the equivalent of     I hope it doesn't rain [= I am hoping for no rain ] The verb expect works differently, allowing the transferred negation and using the future will :     I expect it won't rain = I don't expect it will rain

This explains, partially, why the verbs have irregular and stylistically determined formulations using the pro-forms not and so for the object clause. All the verbs in the list above can be negated by a formulation such as:     Is she coming? It doesn't appear so / It appears not     Will it be expensive? I don't expect so / I expect not Generally speaking, the forms with not are more formal with the exceptions of hope and guess with which the not formulation is preferred in all styles.

There are a number of other verbs which refer to belief and assumption (or statements and questions) which do / do not allow transferred negation. Here's the list:

• Items are marked with a '?' are doubtfully acceptable. Some of the forms marked as wrong with the '*' may occur for stylistic or literary effect but that is probably not something most learners (and teachers) need to know.
• There is some coincidence of the verbs which do not allow transferred negation and which also do not allow negation with the pro-forms not and so . Unfortunately, there’s another problem in that the negative pro-form in, e.g., ‘ I don’t think so ’ is itself a transferred negation and some verbs which do not normally allow transfer do allow the so pro-form.
• As a rule of thumb (and a rough one at that), it appears that the more 'assertive' verbs, semantically speaking, are the ones that do not allow transferred negation.
• Some speakers of English find that certain verbs, particularly guess, claim, fancy, assume, presume and understand , sound rather stilted and unnatural in the don't/doesn't + verb + so formulation.
• The list and the characteristics of the verbs in it would be very different for languages other than English.

English and a range of other European languages, such as Italian, German and Polish allow transferred negation (sometimes with a subtle change in emphasis) but many other languages (such as Thai) do not allow it under any circumstances. Other languages, such as Russian, will allow both forms but prefer the negation on the subordinate clause (which is where logic demands it). Scandinavian and Germanic languages, according to ELT Concourse's long-suffering and generous native-speaker informants, allow both forms but, like English, often prefer the transferred-negation form despite its illogicality.

Spanish and French are not alone in varying the mood of the verb, using the subjunctive for the transferred negation and the indicative for the logical negation. The subjunctive mood implies the counterfactual sense of, e.g.:      I don't think it's going to rain but the indicative mood is used to express greater certainty as in:      I think it's not going to rain In common with these and other languages, English also uses a subjunctive, or putative, should as in, e.g.:     I don't think this should be difficult vs.     I think this won't be difficult (For more on this, see the guide to tense in dependent clauses linked in the list of related guides at the end.)

In Spanish and Catalan, too, the convention is to put the negation in the subordinate clause, where it belongs, so the canonical form will be:      I think it wasn't like that However, if one is contradicting something said, then the negation will appear on the first verb as in, e.g.:      I don't think it was like that

In English, conventional use of transferred negation often involves the non-assertive forms so we will have, e.g.:     I don't think we'll have any rain and     She doesn't believe anyone is working hard enough but when the negation is not transferred, the meaning may be more assertively expressed as in, e.g.:     I think we won't have some rain or     She believes someone is not working hard enough

The result of inter-language influences and the unpredictable behaviour of the verbs is that learners will often produce either unnatural or plain wrong language by assuming either:

• all verbs of thinking and believing will function the same way in English or
• that English will function in the same way as other languages

Errors such as:     *I think that he wouldn't come     *I say not     *He didn't state so     *I didn't ask so     *I think anyone isn't here occur for one or both of these reasons.

The situation appears to be that in many languages, apart from English , which allow transferred negation, the transferred form is not the preferred one and is marked in some way, to express, for example, contradiction. In English, the transferred form, with those verbs which allow it, is the unmarked formulation and the marked formulation is to negate the subordinate clause.

Transferred negation is just one way in which items may be marked for some kind of special emphasis.  For more, see the guide to markedness linked in the list of related guides at the end.

The verb catenate may be defined as join together in a series and there is a range of verbs in English which can be followed by a non-finite form.  That form may be the bare infinitive, the to- infinitive, the -ing form or a past participle ( -ed / - en form).

We can negate either the main verb or the following non-finite but the meaning often changes.  Compare, for example

• She didn't promise to come which refers to the promising, with She promised not to come     which refers to not coming
• He didn't manage to complain which means he was unable to complain, with He managed not to complain which means he controlled himself and did not complain although he wanted to.
• Susan admitted not asking him which means she accepted the blame, with Susan didn't admit asking him which means she denied any blame.
• He spent the day not working which means he did no work that day, with He didn't spend the day working which means he only spent some of the day working.
• I don't want to make my opinion obvious which suggests I'll hide my opinion, with the rarer and clumsy I want to make my opinion not obvious which refers to allowing people to know your opinion but in an unobvious way.

In all these cases, negating the main verb makes the following non-finite negative as well but only negating the non-finite clause may leave the situation open.

Many modal auxiliary verbs are negated by simple inserting the not / n't after them, that being one of the characteristics of central or pure modal auxiliary verbs and semi-modal auxiliary verbs when acting as central modal auxiliary verbs:     You should talk to him → You shouldn't talk to him     He could swim well → He couldn't swim well etc. However, depending on function, the negative forms of many modal auxiliary verbs, both pure and semi-, are unpredictable in form or carry unpredictable meanings.  For example:

What is being negated?

As we saw above with catenative verbs, either the first or the second, non-finite, form may be negated but in the case of modal auxiliary verbs there is sometimes ambiguity.  If for example, we take:     He may not come we can interpret the meaning either as      He is not allowed to come or     It is possible he will not come

In written English apart from clues from the co-text and context, it is impossible to disambiguate the senses. In spoken English disambiguation can be achieved by tone unit separation. The difference will then be the phrasing and stress.  As:      He may | not come which implies that it is a possibility, vs.      He may not | come which implies that it is forbidden.

Compare also:    I can | not smoke which means     I am able not to smoke with     I | cannot / can't smoke which means     I am not allowed to smoke.

English does not confine itself to negation by structure.  We can also signal negative meanings even though the grammar seems to be a declarative or positive form.  Not all languages do this and it is source of a good deal of error and unnatural formulations.

Click here for a short True / False quiz on some of this .

References: Chalker, S, 1984, Current English Grammar , London: Macmillan Quirk, R, Greenbaum, S, Leech, G & Svartvik, J, 1972, A Grammar of Contemporary English , Harlow: Longman Thornbury, S, 2017, About Language , 2nd Edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press ELT Concourse is grateful to a range of colleagues who have supplied data about how other languages handle transferred negation (if they allow it at all) and how subtleties of meaning are thereby expressed.  Any errors are nothing to do with them.

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Education scholar Denise Pope has found that too much homework has negative effects on student well-being and behavioral engagement. (Image credit: L.A. Cicero)

A Stanford researcher found that too much homework can negatively affect kids, especially their lives away from school, where family, friends and activities matter.

“Our findings on the effects of homework challenge the traditional assumption that homework is inherently good,” wrote Denise Pope , a senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and a co-author of a study published in the Journal of Experimental Education .

The researchers used survey data to examine perceptions about homework, student well-being and behavioral engagement in a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California communities. Along with the survey data, Pope and her colleagues used open-ended answers to explore the students’ views on homework.

Median household income exceeded $90,000 in these communities, and 93 percent of the students went on to college, either two-year or four-year.

Students in these schools average about 3.1 hours of homework each night.

“The findings address how current homework practices in privileged, high-performing schools sustain students’ advantage in competitive climates yet hinder learning, full engagement and well-being,” Pope wrote.

Pope and her colleagues found that too much homework can diminish its effectiveness and even be counterproductive. They cite prior research indicating that homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night, and that 90 minutes to two and a half hours is optimal for high school.

Their study found that too much homework is associated with:

* Greater stress: 56 percent of the students considered homework a primary source of stress, according to the survey data. Forty-three percent viewed tests as a primary stressor, while 33 percent put the pressure to get good grades in that category. Less than 1 percent of the students said homework was not a stressor.

* Reductions in health: In their open-ended answers, many students said their homework load led to sleep deprivation and other health problems. The researchers asked students whether they experienced health issues such as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss and stomach problems.

* Less time for friends, family and extracurricular pursuits: Both the survey data and student responses indicate that spending too much time on homework meant that students were “not meeting their developmental needs or cultivating other critical life skills,” according to the researchers. Students were more likely to drop activities, not see friends or family, and not pursue hobbies they enjoy.

A balancing act

The results offer empirical evidence that many students struggle to find balance between homework, extracurricular activities and social time, the researchers said. Many students felt forced or obligated to choose homework over developing other talents or skills.

Also, there was no relationship between the time spent on homework and how much the student enjoyed it. The research quoted students as saying they often do homework they see as “pointless” or “mindless” in order to keep their grades up.

“This kind of busy work, by its very nature, discourages learning and instead promotes doing homework simply to get points,” Pope said.

She said the research calls into question the value of assigning large amounts of homework in high-performing schools. Homework should not be simply assigned as a routine practice, she said.

“Rather, any homework assigned should have a purpose and benefit, and it should be designed to cultivate learning and development,” wrote Pope.

High-performing paradox

In places where students attend high-performing schools, too much homework can reduce their time to foster skills in the area of personal responsibility, the researchers concluded. “Young people are spending more time alone,” they wrote, “which means less time for family and fewer opportunities to engage in their communities.”

Student perspectives

The researchers say that while their open-ended or “self-reporting” methodology to gauge student concerns about homework may have limitations – some might regard it as an opportunity for “typical adolescent complaining” – it was important to learn firsthand what the students believe.

The paper was co-authored by Mollie Galloway from Lewis and Clark College and Jerusha Conner from Villanova University.

Media Contacts

Denise Pope, Stanford Graduate School of Education: (650) 725-7412, [email protected] Clifton B. Parker, Stanford News Service: (650) 725-0224, [email protected]

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Negative Sentence Examples

• DESCRIPTION friends having dinner
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Nobody likes a " Negative Nancy ." But, in grammar , negative sentences aren't necessarily a bad thing. Negative sentence examples include statements of things that are false. They don't have to be accurate or true; they're simply statements from a speaker or writer that are believed to be untrue.

For example, "She does not speak Spanish." These statements stand in stark contrast to positive sentence examples . There, the speaker might say something like, "She speaks French very well." Let's take a closer look at negative statement constructs.

What Is a Negative Sentence?

Negative sentences are declarative statements . That is, they relay information believed to be true. Negative sentences are typically formed by adding the word "not" after the helping verb. The most popular helping verbs are a form of "to be," including "am," "is," "are," "was" and "were."

Negative sentences can also make use of the words "do" or "will" (including "do," "did," and "does") before "not." In any of these constructs, it's possible to substitute "does not" with the contraction "doesn't." Other examples include didn't, isn't, wasn't, weren't, and won't. If you're writing a formal document or an academic essay , it's best not to use contractions. However, for informal writing, including blogging and social media posts, contractions are perfectly acceptable.

List of Negative Sentences

Let's explore some examples of negative sentences.

• I am not flying to England.
• That isn't the way to Nashville.
• They are not from Ecuador.
• He wasn't eating white rice.
• We were not sad when he moved away.
• They don't practice yoga.
• She did not like Bikhram yoga.
• He doesn't have to commute to work.
• They will not be joining us for dinner tonight.
• She won't be attending the Met Gala this year.
• These aren't pistachios.
• They weren't playing poker.

Changing Negative Sentences to Positive Sentences

Positive and negative sentences in English grammar are complete opposites. But, making the change from negative to positive is quite easy. Why would you want to do this? Your sentences will benefit from improved clarity with positive statements.

Why say something "is not purple" when we can be more specific and say it is blue? Positive sentences require fewer words, fewer verb conjugations, and draw a direct line to the point you're trying to make. Let's change all the negative sentences above to positive sentences and see how they clear things up.

Nix Negative Sentences

Of course, we can't rid ourselves of negative sentences completely. And we wouldn't want to either. Sometimes it's necessary to say, "This isn't a beetle but I don't know what kind of bug it is." There's no way around saying what "isn't" from time to time. However, in the instances where you can positively say what is rather than what isn't, you're setting yourself up for some nice, clean prose.

While you're considering clarity in your writing, consider using the active voice as well. It adds impact to your writing because, in these construct, the subject is carrying out the action of the verb. The opposite of the active voice is the passive voice , where the subject is being acted upon by the verb. In these constructs, the subject is being acted upon by the verb and that can muddy the waters. For more on that, enjoy Change Passive Voice to Active Voice .

100+ Examples of Negative Sentences in English

What are negative sentences.

A negative sentence (Examples of Negative Sentences) is the type of sentence that rejects a statement in that sentence itself. Negative sentences are decisive articulations i.e they transfer data accepted to be valid.

150+ Examples Of Positive Sentences In English

Here are some common examples of negative sentences in English

• I am not a junior high school student.
• She will not be watching TV.
• Tom doesn’t like to eat spicy food.
• Do not spoil the weekends of your kids.
• There are no apples in the basket.
• Beckie is not allergic to peanuts.
• I have not been going to the gym for seven days.
• My sister will not have been studying Japanese next year.
• They are not from Ecuador.
• I will not call him as soon as possible.
• My father is not going to his office.
• We will not overcome the problems.
• They have not been waiting for the train since morning.
• He is not interested in the project.
• Amy is not going to school today.
• He wasn’t eating white rice.
• They were not playing basketball.
• He is not interested in your advice.
• We have not been planning a tour for ten days.
• Johnson was not responsible for this mistake.
• There was no car on the road.
• The child is not wearing a hat.
• They have not been performing since Monday.
• She had not been working all day so she was energetic.
• She hates playing tennis with her classmate.
• Roy would not like to go to the store earlier before it starts to rain.
• They should not miss their classes.
• He had not been reading a book.
• You cannot go to the movie alone.
• I could not make you some fresh juice.
• I didn’t meet him in the party.
• Cats do not like swimming.
• We were not sad when he moved away.
• He has not been studying in college since 2010.
• We don’t live near each other.
• No man is totally perfect.
• I had not been cooking any meal when she came to my home.

• It does not perform well all times.
• He doesn’t work anywhere.
• You have not been smoking.
• We didn’t gather at the assembly.
• They weren’t playing poker.
• There is no one in the house.
• Hyenas do not eat plants.
• I am not flying to England.
• There was not a single bus at station.
• She won’t be attending the Met Gala this year.
• He has not been walking.
• They don’t even try to meet me after the farewell.
• They cannot pursue their dreams this way.
• Lissa hasn’t cooked some cookies.
• Some people won’t eat spicy foods.
• This time tomorrow, we will not be working on our project.
• They will not be joining us for dinner tonight.
• Nick is not sad, he is very happy.
• They will not be writing letter to each other.
• His car has failed to start in the morning.
• Brian is not an engineer.
• Lions do not eat grass.
• I do not have my Email ID yet.
• He will not have received enough score by the summer.
• He doesn’t have to commute to work.
• The child has not been wearing a hat.
• He is not feeling well during the lecture.
• The fire station is not located near this city.
• Esther can’t go tomorrow.
• They had not gone out when you called.
• Rodger is not moving anywhere outside the town.
• The woman had not cried till the morning.
• He forgets to bring some of the stuff from the bus.
• They won’t come to participate in the tournament.
• Bill hasn’t learned to type.
• She convinced me not to throw the equipment outside.

• I had not returned to university.
• I didn’t go to the store last week.
• I have not done my home work.
• This is not a smoking zone.
• My brothers don’t speak Chinese.
• He does not make mistakes while writing.
• He does not like drinking coffee.
• He is no taller than you.
• They are not going on a holiday.
• It has not qualified all quality checks.
• You shouldn’t cheat on tests.
• The rain will not have stopped by tomorrow.
• People are not revolting against the atrocities.
• You don’t have to hide your face in front of me.
• I will not have been staying in London next summer.
• He has not submitted the assignment.
• I will not come to his birthday party.
• They watch no movies.
• He doesn’t play cricket after school.
• She will not have been studying Japanese next year.
• Mary doesn’t drink coffee.
• Dogs don’t bark during night.
• They had not bought a new car.
• The coach is not satisfied with the goals scored in the match.
• The president will not have been talking tomorrow.
• The climate will not be going to change till the morning.
• The player is not wearing his helmet.
• They have not conveyed the message well.
• I will not meet with him.
• You don’t go to the grocery store in evening.
• She had not completed her homework.
• The train is not running on time.
• They will not have been married by next year.
• My dog doesn’t like milk.
• They will not send emails to their seniors.
• Her grades are no more than his.
• They haven’t played any games yet, so they’re so energetic now
• Jim’s best friends don’t live near him.
• She does not go to college every day.
• Children are not playing in the garden.
• We had not intervened to settle the matter.

Reference : [ 100+ Examples of Negative Sentences in English – Words Coach ]

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Present simple exercises

Negative forms

Questions - exercises

Mixed forms

Intermediate level

Worksheets - lessons

Present simple

Exercises - negative forms.

• Negative forms and pronouns
• Don't / doesn't - negative
• Present simple - negative forms
• Don't / doesn't - write 1
• Don't / doesn't - write 2
• Write the negative sentences
• Don't or doesn't - exercises
• Negations - simple present
• Negative - write
• Negations in the simple present
• Make negative sentences
• Present simple negative - write 1
• Present simple negative - write 2

Reported commands, negations – Exercise 2

Task no. 2329.

Finish the sentences using Reported speech. Always change the tense, although it is sometimes not necessary.

Peter, "Don't clean the black shoes!" Peter told me  

Peter told me not to clean the black shoes .

Do you need help?

Reported commands and requests in English

• Karen, "Don't play football in the garden!" Karen told me .
• Teacher, "Don't forget your homework!" The teacher reminded me .
• Mike, "Don't shout at Peter!" Mike told me .
• Yvonne, "Don't talk to your neighbour!" Yvonne told me .
• Denise, "Don't open the door!" Denise told me .
• Marcel, "Don't sing that song!" Marcel reminded me .
• Jane, "Don't watch the new film!" Jane advised me .
• Walter, "Don't ring Romy on Sunday!" Walter told me .
• Lisa, "Don't fly via Paris!" Lisa advised me .
• Jamie, "Don't eat so much junk food!" Jamie reminded me .
• You are here:
• Grammar Exercises
• Reported Speech

A powerful tool to govern even the King

Examples of Negative Sentences

A negative sentence uses words like “no,” “not,” “don’t,” or “doesn’t” to show something that is false, incorrect, or not true.

In this post, we present you the top 100+ examples of Negative Sentences.

• I shall never forget your name.
• Peter is not honest.
• Who does not know his name?
• Does he not prefer cold coffee?
• He didn’t finish his homework on time.
• No other metal is as useful as iron.
• He isn’t very good at math.
• I haven’t seen that movie yet.
• None but a coward would flee from his duty.
• Alisha is not taller than you.
• I’m not feeling well today.
• John speaks so low that he cannot be heard.
• They aren’t interested in the new product.
• No sooner did she see the ghost than she ran off.
• I shall never forget his services.
• She didn’t pass the test.
• He doesn’t like spicy food.
• I haven’t been to Europe before.
• He is so proud that he cannot beg.
• He is so young that he cannot travel alone.
• They aren’t going to the beach this weekend.
• None but a fool can say this.
• She didn’t enjoy the movie.
• Only the little girl did not run.
• He isn’t a fan of horror movies.
• I am not blind to my faults.
• I don’t want to go to the party.
• He is so weak that he cannot move.
• They aren’t going to the concert tonight.
• A lion is not braver than he.
• She isn’t very good at playing the guitar.
• He didn’t get the job.
• I haven’t finished reading the book yet.
• Is he not going?
• They aren’t going to the museum this weekend.
• I could not help going there.
• You are not so intelligent as she.
• She didn’t like the restaurant we went to.
• I was not sure whether he would succeed.
• They don’t like the taste of Momo.
• She didn’t win the race.
• He is not always careful.
• He isn’t interested in politics.
• He never tells lies.
• Nobody denied that the girl was cute.
• No other city in the USA is as rich as New York .
• He does not always act intelligently.
• He isn’t a morning person.
• I haven’t learned how to drive yet.
• There is no smoke without fire.
• They don’t want to try the new restaurant.
• None but the rich can afford such luxury.
• She didn’t enjoy the play.
• I shall never forget the beauty of the Himalayas .
• He did not dislike the movie.
• He isn’t very good at public speaking.
• I don’t agree with that statement.
• Peter did not notice me when he came in.
• They aren’t fans of heavy metal music.
• None but the superstar has yet appeared.
• He was a man of no great intelligence.
• She didn’t like the book.
• There is no other city in the USA as big as New York.
• There is no bigger city in the USA than New York.
• I can never forget you.
• He isn’t a good cook.
• None but a Hercules could do this.
• A good boy never neglects his lessons.
• No one can deny that he was a great man.
• They don’t like the new coworker.
• No sooner had we reached the station, than the train left.
• No sooner did we reach the station, than the train left.
• He is so tired that he cannot work anymore.
• She didn’t enjoy the party.
• He isn’t very athletic.
• He is so clever that he cannot be managed.
• The news is so good that it cannot be true.
• I don’t want to eat pizza tonight.
• They aren’t going to the game.
• I am not going there
• He is not well enough.
• He will not go there.
• She didn’t like the museum exhibit.
• He isn’t interested in sports.
• No one loves me.
• Nisha never does that.
• Pamela can not do this.
• Alisha will not be able to do this
• Mr John is not going there.
• I haven’t finished writing the report yet.
• They don’t like the new teacher.
• I will not drink this liquid.
• Peter will not allow me to do this.
• Sarmita can not do this.
• Peter will not be here today.
• Terry will not pay for this.
• David can’t dance.
• I am not a liar.
• Pamela is not going to school today.
• I don’t like pizza.

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Examples of Declarative Sentences

Examples of Compound Sentences

Examples of Complex Sentences

Examples of Assertive Sentence s

Examples of Simple Sentences

• Past Perfect — Negative
• 1. Sam German before he decided to move to Germany. (not / to study) had not studied
• 2. I all the dishes before my mother entered the kitchen. (not / to wash) had not washed
• 3. They the book by 5 o'clock. (not / to copy) had not copied
• 4. He said that he the cake. (not / to buy) had not bought
• 5. She wrote that she the competition. (not / to win) had not won
• 6. I remembered that I the front gate. (not / to close) had not closed
• 7. My daughter her homework by the time I came home. (not / to finish) had not finished
• 8. We from the cinema by 11 o'clock. (not / to return) had not returned
• 9. My friends were disappointed to find out that they all the exams successfully. (not / to pass) had not passed
• 10. I dinner by that time. (not / to cook) had not cooked
• 11. He said that he her. (not / to recognize) had not recognized
• 12. The policeman said that he this thing before. (not / to see) had not seen
• 13. She the table by 4 o'clock. (not / to serve) had not served
• 14. They remembered that they the gas. (not / to turn off) had not turned off
• 15. When I came home, my husband the last piece of chocolate cake yet. (not / to eat) had not eaten
• How to build Past Perfect
• Past Perfect — Positive
• Past Perfect — Yes/‌No question
• Past Perfect — Wh-question — Exercise 1
• Past Perfect — Put the Wh-question to the word/‌phrase in bold
• Past Perfect — Mixed

• English Grammar
• Transformation of Sentences
• Transformation of Affirmative Sentences into Negative Sentences

Transformation of Affirmative Sentences to Negative Sentences - Rules and Examples

Affirmative sentences is a term used to refer to sentences that are positive. Negative sentences, on the other hand, are those sentences that refer to the non-occurrence of an action or the absence of a quality. To learn how to transform an affirmative sentence into a negative sentence, go through the article. Try to comprehend the rules to be followed when doing the transformation and also check out the examples to learn how exactly it is done.

Table of Contents

Change in pronouns/verbs/adjectives/adverbs in sentence transformation.

• Frequently Asked Questions on Transformation of an Affirmative Sentence into a Negative Sentence

Transforming an Affirmative Sentence into a Negative Sentence – Rules to be Followed with Examples

Changing a sentence from the positive to negative can be done easily by adding ‘not’ or the contraction ‘nt. Go through the following points to learn how exactly it has to be done.

• The first thing you will have to do is to locate the principal verb or the main verb in the sentence.
• Once you do, the next step is to add ‘not’ after all forms of the ‘to be’ verb (am, is, are, was, were).
• Sentences with modal verbs (will, would, shall, should, can, may, might, etc.) can be made negative by adding ‘not’ in between the modal auxiliary and the main verb.
• Sentences with helping verbs including ‘have’, ‘has’ and ‘had’ can be transformed into a negative sentence by adding ‘not’ after the helping verb.
• When verbs such as ‘have’, ‘has’ and ‘had’ are used as main verbs, you will need to use the verb forms of ‘do’ followed by ‘not’ and ‘have’ to make the sentence negative.
• For all positive sentences having ‘do’ forms of verbs (do, does, did) as the main verb, converting it into negative can be done by adding ‘not do’ after the verb.
• A positive sentence with one main verb can be changed to negative by using various forms of the ‘do’ verb (do, does, did) followed by ‘not’ and the main verb.
• In a sentence containing two verbs – one or more auxiliary verbs and a main verb – see to it that you add ‘not’ in between the helping verb and the main verb.

Let us look at a few examples to learn how

When changing positive sentences into negative sentences, you might have to sometimes change the pronoun , verb , adjective or adverb in the sentence. When you are required to do so, make sure you do not change the meaning of the sentence. In order to do that, you will have to change the pronoun as well as the verb/adjective in the sentence. Check out the following table for examples.

Frequently Asked Questions on Transformation of an Affirmative Sentence into a Negative

What is an affirmative sentence.

An affirmative sentence is any positive sentence.

How can we transform an affirmative sentence into a negative sentence?

In order to transform an affirmative sentence into a negative sentence, the general and most common rule is to add ‘not’ or the contraction ‘nt’ to the verb. In case the principal verb is a regular or irregular verb, you can make use of the ‘do’ verb forms to make it negative (do not, does not, did not).

Give three examples of transformation of an affirmative sentence into a negative sentence.

Given below are three examples of how to transform an affirmative sentence into a negative sentence.

• I speak Tamil.
• I do not speak Tamil.
• All of us were present at the wedding.
• None of us were absent from the wedding.
• We might be there in five minutes.
• We might not be there in five minutes.

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School Life Balance , Tips for Online Students

The Pros and Cons of Homework

Updated: December 7, 2023

Published: January 23, 2020

Homework is a word that most students dread hearing. After hours upon hours of sitting in class , the last thing we want is more schoolwork over our precious weekends. While it’s known to be a staple of traditional schooling, homework has also become a rather divise topic. Some feel as though homework is a necessary part of school, while others believe that the time could be better invested. Should students have homework? Have a closer look into the arguments on both sides to decide for yourself.

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Why should students have homework, 1. homework encourages practice.

Many people believe that one of the positive effects of homework is that it encourages the discipline of practice. While it may be time consuming and boring compared to other activities, repetition is needed to get better at skills. Homework helps make concepts more clear, and gives students more opportunities when starting their career .

2. Homework Gets Parents Involved

Homework can be something that gets parents involved in their children’s lives if the environment is a healthy one. A parent helping their child with homework makes them take part in their academic success, and allows for the parent to keep up with what the child is doing in school. It can also be a chance to connect together.

3. Homework Teaches Time Management

Homework is much more than just completing the assigned tasks. Homework can develop time management skills , forcing students to plan their time and make sure that all of their homework assignments are done on time. By learning to manage their time, students also practice their problem-solving skills and independent thinking. One of the positive effects of homework is that it forces decision making and compromises to be made.

4. Homework Opens A Bridge Of Communication

Homework creates a connection between the student, the teacher, the school, and the parents. It allows everyone to get to know each other better, and parents can see where their children are struggling. In the same sense, parents can also see where their children are excelling. Homework in turn can allow for a better, more targeted educational plan for the student.

5. Homework Allows For More Learning Time

Homework allows for more time to complete the learning process. School hours are not always enough time for students to really understand core concepts, and homework can counter the effects of time shortages, benefiting students in the long run, even if they can’t see it in the moment.

6. Homework Reduces Screen Time

Many students in North America spend far too many hours watching TV. If they weren’t in school, these numbers would likely increase even more. Although homework is usually undesired, it encourages better study habits and discourages spending time in front of the TV. Homework can be seen as another extracurricular activity, and many families already invest a lot of time and money in different clubs and lessons to fill up their children’s extra time. Just like extracurricular activities, homework can be fit into one’s schedule.

The Other Side: Why Homework Is Bad

1. homework encourages a sedentary lifestyle.

Should students have homework? Well, that depends on where you stand. There are arguments both for the advantages and the disadvantages of homework.

While classroom time is important, playground time is just as important. If children are given too much homework, they won’t have enough playtime, which can impact their social development and learning. Studies have found that those who get more play get better grades in school , as it can help them pay closer attention in the classroom.

Children are already sitting long hours in the classroom, and homework assignments only add to these hours. Sedentary lifestyles can be dangerous and can cause health problems such as obesity. Homework takes away from time that could be spent investing in physical activity.

2. Homework Isn’t Healthy In Every Home

While many people that think homes are a beneficial environment for children to learn, not all homes provide a healthy environment, and there may be very little investment from parents. Some parents do not provide any kind of support or homework help, and even if they would like to, due to personal barriers, they sometimes cannot. Homework can create friction between children and their parents, which is one of the reasons why homework is bad .

3. Homework Adds To An Already Full-Time Job

School is already a full-time job for students, as they generally spend over 6 hours each day in class. Students also often have extracurricular activities such as sports, music, or art that are just as important as their traditional courses. Adding on extra hours to all of these demands is a lot for children to manage, and prevents students from having extra time to themselves for a variety of creative endeavors. Homework prevents self discovery and having the time to learn new skills outside of the school system. This is one of the main disadvantages of homework.

4. Homework Has Not Been Proven To Provide Results

Endless surveys have found that homework creates a negative attitude towards school, and homework has not been found to be linked to a higher level of academic success.

The positive effects of homework have not been backed up enough. While homework may help some students improve in specific subjects, if they have outside help there is no real proof that homework makes for improvements.

It can be a challenge to really enforce the completion of homework, and students can still get decent grades without doing their homework. Extra school time does not necessarily mean better grades — quality must always come before quantity.

Accurate practice when it comes to homework simply isn’t reliable. Homework could even cause opposite effects if misunderstood, especially since the reliance is placed on the student and their parents — one of the major reasons as to why homework is bad. Many students would rather cheat in class to avoid doing their homework at home, and children often just copy off of each other or from what they read on the internet.

5. Homework Assignments Are Overdone

The general agreement is that students should not be given more than 10 minutes a day per grade level. What this means is that a first grader should be given a maximum of 10 minutes of homework, while a second grader receives 20 minutes, etc. Many students are given a lot more homework than the recommended amount, however.

On average, college students spend as much as 3 hours per night on homework . By giving too much homework, it can increase stress levels and lead to burn out. This in turn provides an opposite effect when it comes to academic success.

The pros and cons of homework are both valid, and it seems as though the question of ‘‘should students have homework?’ is not a simple, straightforward one. Parents and teachers often are found to be clashing heads, while the student is left in the middle without much say.

It’s important to understand all the advantages and disadvantages of homework, taking both perspectives into conversation to find a common ground. At the end of the day, everyone’s goal is the success of the student.

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A man who pleaded guilty to killing a Longview man in October 2022 with a claw hammer has received a 30-year prison sentence, according to court records.

Gladewater man gets 30-year sentence in Longview claw hammer death

• From staff reports
• May 22, 2024
• 45 mins ago

Preston Wade Graham, 25, of Gladewater was charged with murder in connection with the Oct. 11, 2022, death of Victor Hugo Herrera.

Evidence linking Graham to the crime was described in a report that Longview Police Detective Olivia Powell wrote when seeking a warrant for his arrest in connection with the homicide.

The affidavit states Herrera's roommate thought he heard Herrera return home from work at a local restaurant on Oct. 8, 2022, but the roommate did not leave his room or speak with Herrera.

The roommate tried to wake up Herrera the next morning — they were supposed to go to work and Herrera was his ride — but Herrera did not open his bedroom door. The roommate reported hearing Herrera moaning or groaning, but the roommate did not keep knocking because it had made Herrera angry in the past.

The roommate woke up for work Oct. 10, 2022, and became concerned about not seeing or hearing Herrera. That’s when he used a kitchen spatula to pry open Herrera’s door and “found him slumped down on the floor against his bed” and called the police.

An officer who responded noticed Herrera’s bedroom had an exterior entry door so he could enter the residence as he wished. The officer also noted a bloody footprint “leading away from the residence at this door.”

“In Herrera’s room, there was a bloody claw hammer on the floor near Herrera,” Powell’s report states. “Herrera had injuries about the left side of his head and behind his left ear. Herrera would succumb to his injuries on Oct. 11, 2022, while under medical care.”

The roommate did tell police that two days before Herrera died, he saw a pickup parked in front of their residence on Baxley Lane but didn’t see anyone inside the truck.

On Oct. 19, 2022, investigators learned there was a “latent print from a ‘water bong’ that was in Herrera’s bedroom.

“... This item appeared to have been recently used when the scene was originally processed as the item still had water inside used to smoke narcotics. There were other paraphernalia items in the room consistent with illicit narcotic usage, but they were inside a locked closet, not in the open as this one,” the report said.

The print was confirmed to belong to Graham.

A mobile phone connected to Graham also was confirmed to have received calls from Herrera’s mobile phone and a text message with Herrera’s Baxley Lane address on Oct. 9, 2022.

Officers also were able to link Graham to a truck that was at an unrelated shooting early in the morning of Oct. 9, 2022, at Jack’s Grill and Lounge on Cotton Street.

“Graham was not entered in any of the reports (about the incident) nor was the vehicle,” but they were documented on the call sheet. As a result, officers were able to track down police body camera footage that contained Graham and a vehicle like the one the roommate reported seeing on Baxley Lane. The report described Graham’s clothing and his “fairly long sideburns which stand out.”

The truck was later located and human blood found inside. Officers also tracked down a man who said he had been in the truck with Graham when Graham went into a house on the night in question.

“(The witness also said) he thought Graham was “meeting his dealer.’ “

“... Once Graham returned to the vehicle, he ‘was tripping,’ and the witness was unsure if Graham had used some narcotics based on his behavior change from when he went inside the house to when he came back out.”

The witness said he change was “negative in nature,” the report states.

“It is more probable than not Graham was involved in Herrera’s death by striking him with a hammer given Graham’s latent fingerprint was retrieved from inside Herrera’s bedroom,” as well as other connections established during the investigation, Powell’s report states.

Graham remains in the Gregg County Jail on $250,000 bond.

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