1
Not follows the first helping verb
Take the sentence and find its first helping verb: is, has, a modal verb, do. Put not right after it. She is not, she has not seen, she could not have seen. The rest of the verb phrase stays where it was.
Lesson · Helping Verbs · Not, do and the boxes
Where Not Goes, and When Do Arrives
In modern English not goes after the first helping verb: could not, has not. If the sentence has no helping verb, do arrives to be one: I do not know. In one chapter of a novel, 29 of 39 uses of not sit exactly there. The other ten are not mistakes, and sorting them is the lesson.
could not has not will not am not
no helping verb? add do:
I do not know
she did not like
29 of 39 after a helping verb 74.4%
One chapter, 39 uses of not
Core ideas
What this lesson establishes
Three ideas, in the order a sentence uses them.
2
No helping verb? Do arrives
A sentence in the plain present or past has no helping verb, and not cannot follow a main verb in modern English. So do, does or did comes in to carry the tense, and the main verb goes back to its bare form: she regretted becomes she did not regret. It is the rule from the last lessons, a helping verb takes the tense and the verb after it takes nothing.
3
Be is the exception to do
Be as a main verb needs no do: my visit was not long, not did not be long. It is its own first helping verb, and not goes after it.
The material
The ten that are not after a helping verb
Five rows come after a main verb. Read them before you call them the old order.
Here is a rule so small you may never have thought of it as a rule. Not follows the first helping verb. She is not. She has not seen. She could not have seen.
Now take a sentence with no helping verb. She liked it. There is nowhere to put not. English does not put it after liked any more. It adds a helping verb: she did not like it.
Do arrives to carry the tense
Did takes the past tense, and like goes back to its bare form. This is the same pattern as the modal: one word shows the tense, and the verb after it takes nothing. Do is a helping verb that does nothing else. It has no meaning of its own here, only the job of being there.
Counting it
Chapter XXVI has 39 uses of not as a word of its own. The lab reads the word before each. In 29, which is 74.4%, it is a helping verb: I am not afraid, you could not do better, she did not regret, do not think me obstinate. Several of those are did not or do not, the new helping verb at work.
Ten are not. Five are filed after a main verb, three after a joining word, two as something else. The chapter has no n't: the text writes do not and could not in full. It also writes cannot as one word, five times, and the scan does not count those among the 39.
The five that look old
The lab files five rows after a main verb. She made a slight, formal apology for not calling before, said not a word of wishing to see me again. Said not a word is the old order. Today it is did not say a word. The other four are not. You need not be and I need not explain use need as a modal and are current. Determined not to and and not a note, not a line put not before a word that is not the verb. So in this chapter one row in 39 is the old order.
The other five
Three follow a joining word: and not yet, but not with, and not a note. There not contrasts one thing with another. Two are in the last box: an apology for not calling, where not comes before an -ing word, and we had better not mention it, where had better works as one helping verb.
Over the whole novel and the play
Counted once over the whole novel, which no page can carry, and quoted here: 1,440 uses of not, 78.8% after a helping verb and 6.3% after a main verb. In the play the same count is 86% after a helping verb, and more than half of all the play's nots, 53.5%, are the contraction n't on a helping verb. In the two modern documents the lab counts 8 of 10 after a helping verb, 80.0%. The one it files after a main verb there, acknowledged not every, is not before a word that means all, and is not the old order either.
Interactive
Helping verbs, counted on one chapter of a novel
Every pronoun, modal, have, be and not in the chapter, and what comes next
how many it looks at—
the rule holds—
share—
pairs the rule covers—
against the rule—
not or an adverb between—
a verb with an ending next—
perfect: have and a participle—
a noun phrase next: the main verb—
have to—
an -ing form next—
share—
a participle next—
an adjective next—
a noun phrase next—
a preposition or place word next—
after a main verb: the old order—
after a joining word—
n't—
a pronoun next: a question—
something else—
simple, present and past—
progressive, any time—
with a modal—
be and a participle—
no verb found—
| box | pronoun subjects | share |
|---|
The text the figures come from
Method
Making a sentence negative
Four questions.
1
Is there a helping verb in the sentence?
Look for a form of be, have or do or a modal. If there is, put not after the first one.
2
Is the main verb be?
Then it works as its own helping verb. I am not, you are not. Do not add do.
3
Otherwise, add do
Do for I, you, we, they; does for he, she, it; did for the past. Then not, then the bare verb.
4
Check the verb after not
It takes no ending: she did not regret, not she did not regretted.
Check yourself
Score 0 / 0Choose the answer you can justify.
The old order against the rule, in the chapter's own rows
These are the rows the lab files after a main verb, with the sentence they came from.
old order she said not a word of wishing
need not you need not be under any alarm
I need not explain myself
not to determined not to
not a and not a note, not a line
Only the first row is the old order. Said not a word is what did not say a word would be now. The next two use need as a modal, which English still does: need not is current. Determined not to puts not in front of to, which is still how it is done. And not a note, not a line says that there was no note, with not in front of a noun phrase. The lab files all five after a main verb, because it reads one word. In the chapter 1813 shows in one row out of five, and in that row only.
Common mistakes
1
I know not and she likes not are EnglishThey were, in 1813, and the chapter shows how often: the scan flags 5 of 39, and only one of them, said not a word, is the old order. Counted once over the whole novel and quoted here, not sits after a helping verb 78.8% of the time and after a main verb 6.3%. Today do is required.
2
Adding do to beI do not be ready, she did not be there. Be as the main verb is its own helping verb. The chapter has my visit was not long, you are not serious, I am not afraid.
3
Keeping the tense on the main verb as wellShe did not regretted, he does not knows. Did and does have taken the tense; the main verb is bare. The rows she did not regret and Caroline did not return show it.
Check your understanding
✓
Finish when you can place not in a sentence, and say when do has to be added.
You should be able to put not after the first helping verb, add do, does or did when there is none, give the verb after do its bare form, and read off a printed chapter how often not sits where the rule says and what the other rows are.
Note: The scan counts the old order by position, not by meaning. That is why the box reads five and the old order reads one. Of the other five of the ten, three come after a joining word (and not yet, but not with), where not contrasts one thing with another, and two are in the last box: for not calling and had better not.