Not

Not is one of the most common words we use to indicate negation. It is often shortened to n’t and joined to an auxiliary verb or modal verb:

• She’s not coming with us.
• I didn’t see what happened. (did not)
• I can’t swim. (cannot)
• She won’t change her mind. (will not)
• It’s at eight o’clock, not nine.
• A: Is that true?
• B: Certainly not.
• A: Are you ready?
• B: Not quite.

Not in negative statements (She hasn’t …, I did not …)

We form negative declarative clauses with not after be (she is not talking), after modal verbs (they must not go) and after auxiliary verbs do and have (we did not like it; they have not eaten).

In informal situations, we add n’t to be, modal verbs and auxiliary verbs do and have. There is no space between the verb and n’t:

• She isn’t worried about it, is she?
• We can’t walk. It’s too far. I’ll take the car.
• Although he doesn’t know much Chinese, he is fluent in French, German, and Italian.
• I haven’t seen Peter for ages.

We don’t use n’t with am and may:

• I*’m*** not allowed to go out this evening.

• Not: I amn’t allowed to … (amn’t is common in Irish and Scots English, however.)

• We may not see you later. We have to leave early.

• Not: We mayn’t see you later.

With is and are there are two possible negative statements, ’s not or isn’t and ’re not or aren’t. The forms ’s not and ’re not are more common after pronouns; isn’t and aren’t are more common after noun phrases:

• The girls aren’t here yet. They*’re*** not coming until later.
• The programme isn’t ready. It*’s not** printed yet.* (or The programme’s not ready yet.)

In questions and question tags we use aren’t with I:

• Aren’t I lucky?
• I’m right, aren’t I?

We use the full form not for more formal writing or for emphasis:

• It had not been an easy year.
• He was not sorry and he is not ashamed.
• The Lady Jinneth went out riding alone this afternoon, and she has not yet come back.

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

We use not or n’t to form negative questions:

• Why haven’t you eaten anything?
• Couldn’t he pay someone to help him with the garden?
• Wasn’t it Cath’s party last night?
• Weren’t you listening?

When there is no modal verb or auxiliary verb or be, we use auxiliary verb do + n’t or do + not (don’t, do not, doesn’t, does not, didn’t, did not):

• Why didn’t you go?
• Don’t those two go to school together?

Questions with not instead of n’t sound more formal or give more emphasis. We put not after the subject.

Compare

More formal/emphatic	Everyday situations
Why did she not phone and tell us?	Why didn’t she phone and tell us?
Does Ellen not like you very much?	Doesn’t Ellen like you very much?

Don’t, Do not: orders and instructions

We use don’t + the base form of the verb or do + not + the base form of the verb to make negative imperatives. We use these to give orders, instructions or commands. Do not is stronger and much more formal:

• Don’t be an idiot!
• Don’t open the oven door until the cake is cooked.
• [on an envelope containing photos]
• PHOTOS: DO NOT BEND
• Do not turn off your computer without shutting down properly.

We use don’t + you in informal speaking to make the order stronger:

• We’re getting divorced. Don’t you dare tell anyone!

We can use don’t let’s or let’s not for first person plural imperatives (us) to make suggestions:

• Don’t let’s go out. (or Let’s not go out.)

We can use the short form don’t as an imperative answer or reaction to something:

• A: Shall I ask Mum to help?
• B: No, don’t. She’s too tired. (No, don’t ask Mum to help us.)

See also

• Imperative clauses (Be quiet!)
• Let, let’s

Not: short replies

We use not in negative short replies with mental process verbs (e.g. be afraid, guess, hope):

• A: Will I see you tomorrow, Harry?

• B: Oh, Alice, I’m afraid not.

• A: Will he have to go back into hospital?

• B: I hope not.

• A: Aren’t you coming with us?

• B: I guess not. Rosie’s not keen.

With think, we usually use I don’t think so rather than I think not, which is much more formal and rare:

• A: Is it going to rain?
• B: I don’t think so.

In short replies to yes-no questions, we use not after adverbs like probably, maybe, certainly to express degrees of certainty:

• A: Do you think she’ll remember to come at five instead of six?
• B: Probably not.

See also

• So and not with expect, hope, think, etc.

Not: contrast

We often use not after but to express a contrast. We often leave out the verb phrase or part of it in the second clause:

• You can look but not touch. (You can look but you can’t touch.)
• Write the instructions in capitals but not in bold. (Write the instructions in capitals but don’t write them in bold.)
• There were a few problems but not too many. (There were a few problems but there weren’t too many problems.)

Not + -ing and not + to

We use not before an -ing clause in more formal styles:

• Not knowing what to say, she started to walk towards the door.
• Not being heard or listened to is something that elderly people can find frightening.
• She didn’t want to admit to not knowing what the Emerald Isle was. (‘The Emerald Isle’ is another name for Ireland.)

We use not to negate a to-infinitive clause. We can use not before or after to, but some people consider ‘split infinitives’ (when not comes between to and the verb) to be incorrect:

• She tried not to offend people.
• … she wanted to stay for a long time, to not think, to not be afraid, to not be so, so lonely.

See also

• Negation in non-finite clauses

Or not

We can use or not in questions to ask about a range of possibilities:

• Are they coming today or not?

We sometimes use it to force someone to make a decision:

• Are you going to apologise to me or not? (Are you going to apologise to me or are you not going to apologise to me?)
• Do you want to hear this story or not?

We often use or not after if or whether to express a contrast in expectation:

• He always spoke the truth whether it was popular or not.

See also

• If or whether?
• Ellipsis
• Questions
• Negation
• Non-finite clauses
• Imperatives with subject pronouns
• Declarative clauses
• No or not?