Common negative words
Generally we think of negative words as “no”, “not” and other words formed with “no” such as “nobody” and “nothing”.
“Not” is the most common word we use to make a statement or an expression negative. We just attach “not” to a helping or auxiliary verb and it gives a negative meaning to the verb and to the sentence. Instead of “not” you can use the contraction of not which is “n’t”. This is added to a helping or auxiliary verb to form the negative.
Example: If we add “not” or “n’t” to “have” we get “have not” and “haven’t”.
To make “have eaten” negative we would use “have not eaten” or “haven’t eaten”.
I was fishing in the river.
Negative – I was not fishing in the river.
I wasn’t fishing in the river.
Another common negative word is “no”. It is often a very emphatic indication of the negative.
“Are you going to the concert?”
“No I am staying home instead.
You can also use it in rules or notices. No swimming is allowed near the pier.
Double negatives
One rule to remember is that you cannot use two negatives in the same clause. This error is the use of a double negative. Look at these sentences.
“No one can’t tell me what to do.”
I won’t do nothing to stop him from entering the race. They are both incorrect. They show the use of a double negative. In the first sentence the word “no” is negative and the word “can’t” is also negative. In the second sentence the word “nothing” is negative and “won’t” is also negative.i
These words are negative too
Some words do not look negative but are negative in meaning and usage. These words are” hardly”, “scarcely” and “barely”. These are negative adverbs.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary the words are defined as follows:
scarcely means… only just; not,
hardly means… only just; certainly not
and barely means …by the smallest amount; only just.
These sentences below show the negative meanings of “hardly”.
Hardly anyone attended the meeting. This means that not many persons attended.
I hardly ever get a cold. This is means the same as – I do not get a cold often.
Because these words are negative you should not use them with other negative words or you would be making the mistake of using a double negative. Look at these sentences. “I can hardly wait for my vacation.” This is correct. However this next sentence is not correct. “I can’t hardly wait for my vacation.” This is an example of using a double negative. “Can’t” is negative and “hardly” is negative.
You should also avoid using another negative word with “scarcely” and “barely”.
It is correct to say, “I can scarcely squeeze into these jeans.” But it is incorrect to say
“I can’t scarcely squeeze into these jeans.”
Or “I did not barely understand the instructions”. In both cases you would be using a double negative.
Position of hardly when indicating time
When you use “hardly” to indicate the timing of an action you should begin the sentence with “hardly” and invert the subject and verb and use “when” in the clause describing a second action.
Example:
Hardly had I entered the house when the storm broke.
Hardly…… inverted subject and verb…..when
You begin the sentence with hardly and instead of saying I had you invert that to had I and then use when to show the timing of the second action. This construction shows that one action followed immediately after another. In the example sentence this construction shows that the storm followed immediately after the person entered the house.
You use the same construction if using “scarcely” to indicate the timing of an event. Begin with “scarcely”, invert subject and verb and use “when” in the clause following. Scarcely had I fallen asleep when the fire alarm sounded.
Position of hardly in other sentences
In other sentences “hardly” is usually placed midway between the subject and the main verb. I hardly take that route to go to school. The subject is “I” and the main verb is “take”. Notice that “hardly” is positioned between them.
“Scarcely” is used in the same way. Tim scarcely makes a living from growing corn.
“Tim” is the subject and “makes” is the verb. Notice the position of “scarcely” midway between them.
I barely managed to meet the deadline for entering the competition. In this sentence “barely” is placed between the subject “I” and the main verb “managed”.
Rules to remember
The main rules to remember when using these negative adverbs are:
Do not use another negative word in the same clause or you will make the grammatical error of using a double negative.
In sentences indicating timing of events, when you use the construction “Hardly (followed by inverted subject and verb) this is followed by “when”.
“Hardly……..when”
Now go ahead and use your negative words with confidence.