Negation

Negation

by Carol Moe

Open Ended

What does negation mean? What words do you associate with negation?

​Tests for Negative Sentences in English

1 ​Positive, but not negative tag questions are possible.

• ​Lee did not go, did she? (+tag)

• ​Lee did not go, didn't she (-tag)

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2. Tags with neither (nor) are used rather than so.

• ​Lee went, and so did Sandy. (+)

• ​Lee didn't go, and neither did Sandy. (-)

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​3. Negative sentences can be continued with not even.

• ​Lee didn't go, not even on Saturday. (-)

• ​Lee went, even on Saturday. (+)

​Tests for Negative Sentences in Spanish

1 ​Negative sentences can be continued with ni siquiera, ni, tampoco, etc.

• ​Lee no fue, ni siquiera el sabado. (-)

• ​Maria no fue, y Juan tampoco. (-)

• ​***Lee fue, ni siquiera el sabado.

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2 When you make the sentence into a yes-no question, no is used to indicate that the info is correct.

• ​¿No está en la casa? No, no está

Multiple Choice

He ... like to play basketball.

• Do not

• Does not

• could not

• no

Multiple Choice

Andy ... go to school with us.

• do not

• does not

• no

• like

Multiple Choice

My sister and I .......... like candy.

• does not

• is not

• are not

• do not

Multiple Choice

My grandparents ______ TV every night.

• is watch

• not watch

• watch

• does not watch

Multiple Choice

We _____ in the city.

• does not live

• do not live

• do not lives

• lives

Multiple Choice

I ... milk

• don't like
• doesn't like
• like not
• not liking

Multiple Choice

Make in negative next sentence:

We hate trees

• We does hates trees

• we don't hate trees

• We do hate trees

Multiple Choice

Make in negative next sentence:

she has three brothers

• She don't have three brothers

• She does has three brothers

• She does not have three brothers

Multiple Choice

They ... to us

• talk not
• doesn't talk
• don't talking
• don't talk

Multiple Choice

Her cats ... in her bed

• don't sleep
• doesn't sleep
• don't sleeps
• don't sleeping

Multiple Choice

My mother __________ the house on Sunday.

• doesn't clean
• not cleans
• don't clean
• doesn't cleans

​Other forms of Negation

​Non-negative Denial

​Denial without syntactic negation

• ​Sandy is leaving. (+)

• ​That's a lie. (+)

• ​Sandy is leaving. (+)

• ​Sandy is staying. (+)

• ​Their methods were unorthodox. (+)

• ​Their methods were orthodox. (+)

• ¿Fue innecesario el trabajo?

• Sí, lo fue.​ (+)

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Open Ended

Use the word "not" to negate the idea of this sentence:

Many students study hard.

​Nondenials

​Syntactic negation without semantic negation

​Many students study hard.

​Many students do not study hard.

​Not many students study hard.

​

​Negative words usually only affect what comes after them = scope of negation. This point is mostly relevant to quantifiers like many.

Open Ended

Use the word "no" or "not" to negate the idea of this sentence:

Some students study hard.

Open Ended

Use the word "no" or "not" to negate the idea of this sentence:

I have read some books.

​Outside the Scope of Negation

​Some is understood as outside the scope of negation. The word any (or no in place of not any) serves as its counterpart inside the scope of negation.

​In Spanish, ningún, and alguno after a noun, serve for both any and no.

​

​Anyone can win. (+) - No one can win. (-)

​I have read some books. (+) - I have not read any books. (-)

​Negative Polarity Terms

​(Negative intensifiers or non-affirmatives)

​

​Words or phrases restricted to negative (and other less than fully positive concepts).

​

​Nobody gives a darn. (Strange: Everyone gives a darn. Some ppl give a darn).

​We couldn't sleep a wink. (Strange: We could sleep a wink.)

​We found nothing at all. (Not used: We found everything at all.)

​Habla más que nadie.

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​Sometimes the negative word is omitted:

​I couldn't care less. Or I could care less.

​No me importa un ____. Or Me importa un ____.

​Double Negation

​Double negation (two negative terms) is generally not used in English.

​In Spanish, however, constructions are often formed with 2 negative words.