What Are Negatives? | Grammar Rules & Examples
In English grammar, negatives are words—such as “no,” “not,” and “never”—that show something is untrue, not happening, or of zero quantity. For example, the sentence “Nobody wants this” means “zero people want this.” It’s the opposite of “Everybody wants this” or “Someone wants this.”
Common negatives include “not,” “none,” “nobody,” “nowhere,” and “nothing.” Some qualifiers—such as “barely” and “hardly”—are also negatives.
The main grammar rule for negatives is to only use one per sentence. A double negative is grammatically incorrect because two negatives in the same sentence cancel each other. For example, grammatically, “We never go nowhere” means “We always go somewhere” instead of “We never go anywhere.”
The candidate barely won the election.
Nothing is more important than friends and family.
Negation definition in grammar
In grammar terms, negation involves using a negative word to show something is untrue or not the case. Negation cancels or weakens another word in a sentence. The main types of English negatives include the following:
- Negative verbs formed with “not”
- The negative adverb “never” and other negative qualifiers (e.g, “barely” and “hardly”)
- Neither … nor, which is a correlative conjunction
- Negative indefinite pronouns (e.g., “nothing,” “none,” “nobody” or “neither”)
- The determiner “no”
- The noun or adverb “nowhere”
English sentences don’t use double negatives. When you’re speaking or writing in formal English, use only one negative per sentence.
Vegans never eat cheese or meat.
The artist sought neither fame nor fortune.
The detectives searched for evidence and found nothing.
I can think of no better reason to celebrate than Grandma’s 90th birthday.
There was nowhere to sit in the theater, so we had to leave.
Negative verbs
Negative verbs use the word “not” to negate the action or state of being in a sentence. “Not” always goes after the linking verb “be” (e.g., “is/are/am” and “was/were”) or the sentence’s first auxiliary verb (e.g., “do,” “does,” “did,” “can,” “could,” or “have”).
The main rules for making verbs negative are as follows:
- Use “not” after the linking verb “be” to show that a predicate nominative or predicate adjective is untrue (e.g., “That joke is not funny”).
- For sentences in the simple present tense, simple past tense, or simple future tense, use an auxiliary verb + “not” + the simple present form of the action verb (e.g., “should not laugh,” “did not laugh,” or “will not laugh”).
- For all other verb tenses, use “not” after the first auxiliary verb.
Einstein was not afraid to take risks.
This restaurant does not serve burgers and fries.
Miley Cyrus did not win a Grammy in 2023.
We will not be attending the wedding next month.
The team could not have won without the coach’s help.
I have not played the piano in over three years.
Helen should not have stayed up so late.
Contractions with not
You can also create a negative verb with a contraction that includes a linking verb or auxiliary verb with the abbreviation “n’t” for “not.”
| Negative contraction | Examples |
|---|---|
| Isn’t | This coffee isn’t hot enough. |
| Aren’t | Children aren’t spending enough time outdoors. |
| Wasn’t | The sequel to the movie wasn’t very interesting. |
| Weren’t | We weren’t at home when the storm happened. |
| Doesn’t | The art museum doesn’t open until noon. |
| Don’t | Some sea creatures don’t have eyes. |
| Didn’t | Mia got an A on the test even though she didn’t study. |
| Won’t | I won’t tell anyone about the surprise. |
| Can’t | People with Celiac Disease can’t eat gluten. |
| Couldn’t | The senators couldn’t agree on a new tax plan. |
| Shouldn’t | You shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. |
| Wouldn’t | The car wouldn’t start, so we called a tow truck. |
| Haven’t | I haven’t tried the new Pho restaurant yet. |
| Hasn’t | Paul Simon hasn’t been on tour since 2018. |
| Hadn’t | If we hadn’t missed the plane, we would be in Denver by now. |
Negative adverbs
The qualifiers “never,” “barely,” “rarely,” “scarcely,” “seldom,” and “hardly” are considered negative adverbs. “Never” means “not ever” or “at no time.” The other negative adverbs mean “almost not at all.”
You can use negative adverbs to modify English verbs in a few ways:
- When the main verb is “be,” and sentence has a predicate adjective or predicate nominative, place the negative adverb after the “be” verb (e.g., “You are never too old to learn something new” or “Cereal is hardly a healthy breakfast” ).
- The negative adverb “never” can begin an imperative sentence that would otherwise begin with an action verb (e.g., “Never give your password to anyone”).
- In sentences with the passive voice, place a negative adverb after “be” and before the past participle of the action verb (e.g., “Rome was never built in a day”).
- When the sentence has an action verb, the rules about where to put the negative adverb depend on the verb tense.
| Verb tense | Negative adverb placement | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Simple present | Before the action verb | Silas never works on Sunday. |
| Simple past | Trey barely saw the northern lights. | |
| Simple future | I will rarely drink coffee after noon. | |
| Present perfect | Flora has never watched a scary movie. | |
| Past perfect | We had never seen so many cacti before visiting Tucson. | |
| Future perfect | By the time this project is finished, we will have never worked harder. | |
| Present progressive | Jason is never running for public office again. | |
| Past progressive | The neighbors were never planning to move, but they had no choice. | |
| Future progressive | Before “be” | We will seldom be shopping at this store again because it’s too expensive. |
| Present perfect continuous | Before “been” | I have never been sleeping so well in my entire life. |
| Past perfect continuous | Diana had rarely been spending time outdoors before she planted a garden. | |
| Future perfect continuous | I will have never been writing more essays than when I start taking college courses next year. |
The negative adverb can go before the modal, before “has/have/had,” or before the action verb.
- Mark never should have taken the job at Lumon.
- Mark should never have taken the job at Lumon.
- Mark should have never taken the job at Lumon.
- We couldn’t barely sleep during the loud storm.
- We could barely sleep during the loud storm.
- I wasn’t never the best singer.
- I was never the best singer.
- Irving isn’t never late to work.
- Irving is never late to work.
If double negatives show up in your writing, why not try QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker?
Negative conjunction (neither … nor)
“Neither … nor” is a correlative conjunction that negates a pair of grammatically equal parts of a sentence (e.g., two noun phrases or two verbs). To use “neither … nor” correctly, don’t put “not” in the same sentence, and don’t confuse it with “either … or.”
- I saw neither college students nor professors on campus today.
- I didn’t see either college students or professors on campus today.
- I didn’t see neither college students nor professors on campus today.
- I saw neither college students or professors on campus today.
Negative indefinite pronouns
The indefinite pronouns “nothing,” “nobody,” “none,” and “neither” are negatives that refer to “zero” of the people, places, or things in a category. A negative pronoun should not be in the same sentence as “not,” “never,” and other negatives.
If the sentence already has a negative, use an indefinite pronoun that isn’t negative (e.g., “anybody” or “anything”).
- The restaurant serves nothing after 10 p.m.
- The restaurant doesn’t serve anything after 10 p.m.
- The restaurant doesn’t serve nothing after 10 p.m.
- I haven’t talked to anybody yet today.
- I have talked to nobody today.
- I haven’t talked to nobody yet today.
- The doctor doesn’t recommend either of these medications
- The doctor recommends neither of these medications.
- The doctor doesn’t recommend neither of these medications
Other English negatives
Two other English words for negation are ”no” and “nowhere.”
No
“No” is usually a determiner that goes before a noun to mean “zero quantity.” It can also be an adverb that negates a comparative adjective (e.g. “no louder than a whisper”). In these two situations, “no” should be the only negative in the sentence. However, when “no” begins an answer to a “yes/no” question, it’s perfectly fine to include other negatives.
- No, the cat cannot eat any ice cream.
- The cat can eat no ice cream.
- The cat can never eat any ice cream.
- The cat can’t eat no ice cream.
- The earring was no bigger than a pebble.
- The earring wasn’t no bigger than a pebble.
Nowhere
“Nowhere” usually functions as an adverb that means “not anywhere.” When used this way, “nowhere” should be the only negative in a sentence. If the sentence already has “never” or “not,” for example, use “anywhere” rather than “nowhere” after the sentence’s verb.
However, if you use “nowhere” as the object of a preposition (e.g., “out of nowhere” or “from nowhere”), it functions as a noun. When “nowhere” is a noun, the sentence can have a negative verb with “not” or “never” if you mean something along the lines of “came from somewhere.”
- We went nowhere for vacation last year.
- We didn’t go anywhere for vacation last year.
- We didn’t go nowhere for vacation last year.
- Who put their trash on my porch? It didn’t appear out of nowhere!
- A flock of geese appeared from nowhere.
What is a double negative?
A double negative is an error involving two negatives in the same sentence. It’s usually incorrect to combine “not” or “never” with other types of negatives (e.g., negative indefinite pronouns or negative adverbs). There are usually two ways to fix a double negative:
- Remove “not” or “never” to make the verb positive rather than negative.
- Keep “not” or “never,” but revise the other negative to its opposite (e.g., “nothing” to “anything,” “none” to “any,” “nobody” to “anybody,” or “neither” to “either”).
- I didn’t plan nothing for this weekend.
- I never planned nothing for this weekend.
- I planned nothing for this weekend.
- I didn’t plan anything for this weekend.
- I never planned anything for this weekend.
Frequently asked questions about negatives
- Is it nobody or no body?
-
The correct English spelling is “nobody” (one word) instead of “no body” (two words). “Nobody” is a negative and an indefinite pronoun that means “not one person.” It’s the opposite of “anybody.”
A sentence that uses “nobody” should not use another negative—such as “not” or “never.” For example, “There was nobody else on the bus” is correct, but “There wasn’t nobody on the bus” is incorrect because it’s a double negative.
QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker can help you instantly find and fix errors with “nobody” in your writing.
- What part of speech is never?
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The word never is an adverb. While it is often used as an adverb of frequency (e.g., “He never takes the bus”), it can also be used in negative statements for emphasis instead of “not” (e.g., “That’s just never going to work”).
On a related note, it matters if you write “never mind” as nevermind or never mind—it’s written as two words when it means “don’t worry,” for instance.
You can use QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker to ensure you’re using adverbs like “never” correctly in your writing.
- Is it neither nor or neither or?
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The correct form of the correlative conjunction is neither … nor (e.g., “We have neither the capital nor the name recognition to expand into a new market”). “Or” is never used with “neither.”
A QuillBot Grammar Check can help ensure you’re using correlative conjunctions and negatives like “neither … nor” correctly.
- What are some synonyms for will not?
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Synonyms for will not include:
- Shall not
- Am/is/are not going to
- Do/does not intend to
- Do/does not want to
- Do/does not wish to
- Refuse to
- Do/does not plan to
It’s important to note that the contraction of “will not” is won’t not wont.
Use QuillBot’s free Paraphraser to help you find the best synonym for “will not” in your specific context.
