Collins Cobuild

Unit 11
Sentences with ‘not’
Main points
‘Not’ is often shortened to ‘-n’t’ and added to some verbs.
You  put  ‘not’  after  the  first  verb  in  the  verb  group,  or  you  use  a
short form.
1
In spoken and in informal written English, ‘not’ is often shortened to ‘-
n’t’ and added to an auxiliary, a modal, or a form of the main verb
‘be’.
I haven’t heard from her recently.
I wasn’t angry.
Here is a list of short forms.
isn’t
haven’t don’t can’t
shan’t
daren’t
aren’t hasn’t doesn’t couldn’t shouldn’t needn’t
wasn’t hadn’t didn’t mightn’t won’t
weren’t
mustn’t wouldn’t
oughtn’t
If the verb is already shortened, you cannot add ‘-n’t’.

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It‘s not easy.
I’ve not had time.
You cannot add ‘-n’t’ to ‘am’. You use ‘I’m not’.
I’m not excited.
2
If the verb group has more than one word, you put ‘not’ after the first
word, or you use a short form.
I was not smiling.
He hadn’t attended many meetings.
They might not notice.
I haven’t been playing football recently.
3
If the sentence only contains a main verb other than ‘be’, you use the
auxiliary ‘do’.
You use ‘do not’, ‘does not’, ‘did not’, or a short form, followed by the
base form of the main verb.
They do not need to talk.
He does not speak English very well.
I didn’t know that.
Note that if the main verb is ‘do’, you still use a form of ‘do’ as an
auxiliary.
They didn’t do anything about it.
4
 If  the  main  verb  is  the  present  or  past  simple  of  ‘be’,  you  put  ‘not’
immediately after it, or you use a short form.
It is not difficult to understand. It’s not the same, is it? He wasn’t a
bad actor actually.
5
 If  the  main  verb  is  ‘have’,  you  usually  use  a  form  of  ‘do’  as  an
auxiliary.

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They don’t have any money.
You can also use a short form, or you can put ‘not’ after the verb but
this is not very common.
He hadn’t enough money.