Making Negative Sentences in English

Negative sentences in English follow clear patterns using auxiliary verbs + not or contractions. Here’s how to form them correctly in all tenses.

1. General Rule

Auxiliary Verb + NOT + Main Verb

• "She does not like cats." (Present Simple)
• "They are not coming." (Present Continuous)

Contractions (Informal):

• "She doesn’t like cats."
• "They aren’t coming."

2. Negative Forms by Tense

Tense	Structure	Example	Contraction
Present Simple	do/does + not + verb	"He does not eat meat."	"He doesn’t eat meat."
Past Simple	did + not + verb	"We did not go out."	"We didn’t go out."
Future (will)	will + not + verb	"She will not agree."	"She won’t agree."
Present Continuous	am/is/are + not + verb-ing	"I am not joking."	"I ’m not joking."
Past Continuous	was/were + not + verb-ing	"They were not listening."	"They weren’t listening."
Present Perfect	have/has + not + past participle	"He has not finished."	"He hasn’t finished."

Examples:

• "It doesn’t rain much here." (Present Simple)
• "She wasn’t sleeping when I called." (Past Continuous)
• "They won’t be late." (Future)

3. Negative Forms Without Auxiliary Verbs

For "to be" (am/is/are/was/were) and modal verbs (can, must, should), add "not" directly:

• "She is not happy." → "She isn’t happy."
• "You should not go." → "You shouldn’t go."
• "He cannot swim." → "He can’t swim."