Negative sentence in Present Simple tense

Created:29 Nov 2019 14:49:38 , in  elementary

Pattern

It is very useful to know how to build a negative sentence in the Present Simple tense. There is a pattern for it. The pattern consists of four parts and relies on the auxiliary verb do followed by the adverb not.

Subject + auxiliary verb + main verb + rest of sentence

Examples

I + do not + like to cycle.

We + do not + dine together.

They + prefer + to do shopping on Monday.

For third person singular ( he , she, it ), does not is used in place of do not.

Eve + does not + go to sleep until 9 p.m.

This tree + does not + grow + fast.

Tommy + does not + enjoy + cycling much.

To be and modal verbs

The above pattern covers most of the cases apart from ones when to be or a modal verb (can, may, should etc. ) is the main verb in the sentence.

For such sentences we drop the auxiliary verb do:

Subject + main verb + not + rest of sentence

Examples for to be and a modal verb based sentences

I + cannot + swim.

I + am + not + a great swimmer.

She + should + not + underestimate her employees.

They + are + not + friends of ours.

The building + is + not that old.

If you are not sure about Subject + main verb + rest of sentence pattern, you might want to see Affirmative sentence in Present Simple Tense article first.

This post was updated on 29 Nov 2019 20:46:05

Tags:  present simple tense ,  tense