Negatives
Some sentences are written to convey an affirmative or negative connotation in order to influence or persuade a reader. Specific words are chosen to construct this affirmative or negative tone. The words purposely chosen to express a negative idea are sometimes referred to as a negation. The following lists are common negative words, adverbs and verbs used to illustrate a negative idea.
Negative words:
- No
- Not
- None
- No one
- Nobody
- Nothing
- Neither
- Nowhere
- Never
Negative Adverbs:
- Hardly
- Scarcely
- Barely
Negative verbs:
- Doesn’t
- Isn’t
- Wasn’t
- Shouldn’t
- Wouldn’t
- Couldn’t
- Won’t
- Can’t
- Don’t
The previous list can be overwhelming, as there appears to be a lot of negative words that must be memorized. The easiest way to remember the proper word, adverb or verb to use when forming a negation is chose a word that implies no or none. Another trick is to think about the message the reader is to absorb from the sentence as a whole, and pick words that will ensure this meaning is conveyed.