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Negative Questions
Today we continue our chapter, "Questions," This lesson is primarily for beginners and intermediate learners of English.
What's
wrong with the sentence
below?
Problem:
Why do not I have a goal?
In today's lesson we first discuss
the form of the verb in negative questions.
When the Verb in the Question is Negative
Learners of English are always surprised to learn this rule.
In general, when the verb in the question is negative, you need to use a contraction; that is, you need to connect the auxiliary to the word not.
The exception to this rule is the
be verb, present tense, first person singular
(am).
Chart for the Structure of Verbs in Negative Questions
| auxiliary | + | not | = | ? |
| do | + | not | = | don't + (subject) |
| does | + | not | = | doesn't + (subject) |
| did | + | not | = | didn't + (subject) |
| will | + | not | = | won't + (subject) |
| am | + | not | = | am I not ( ) |
| is | + | not | = | isn't + (subject) |
| are | + | not | = | aren't + (subject) |
| was | + | not | = | wasn't + (subject) |
| were | + | not | = | weren't |
| have | + | not | = | haven't |
| has | + | not | = | hasn't |
| had | + | not | = | hadn't |
| can | + | not | = | can't + (subject) + rest of verb |
| should | + | not | = | shouldn't + (subject) + rest of verb |
Examples:
-
Why don't I have a goal?
-
Why don't I want to move to another apartment?
Exceptions
Exceptions to this contraction rule are made when the speaker or writer wants to strongly emphasize the unusual nature of the action. (The examples below are not student-generated.)
-
Why had he not called? He usually always does.
-
Why can you never do what I ask you to do?
Next...
In our next lesson, we will discuss
questions that begin with the word "who".
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