Negation and questioning in English: the essentials

question

English is no different from many languages in having a number of ways to make negatives and ask questions. How English does it is, however, not simple.

Here are some examples. In each column, there is one rogue which is not a real question or a real negative. Can you spot it?
Click here when you have.

Negatives	Questions
John didn't eat any cake. I reject the idea that John at any cake. John denied eating any chocolate. John hardly ate any cake. John wouldn't mind some chocolate.	What time is it? Would you like some cake? Do you want any cake? Is there a bus due? Coming?

Sentence 5 is not a real negative. Although grammatically it looks negative, it is functionally a positive statement (or even a request).
Sentence b. is also not a real question. It's an offer.
These are the only sentences in which the determiner some rather than any comes before the noun. The distinction between some and any is a good test of whether an utterance is, in fact, a real negative or a question in its function.
What may look like a question may be doing something other than asking a question and what looks like a negative may not be negative at all. On the other hand, what looks like a positive sentence may actually be a question or a negative.

Here are some more examples:

Can I get you some tea?
looks like a question but is an offer.
Isn't that beautiful!
looks like a question but is an exclamation.
I reject any suggestion that I was speaking to anyone
looks like a positive sentence but is actually negative (note the use of any, anyone not some, someone).
Couldn't you just shut up!
looks like both a negative and a question but is actually a strongly worded request.
The Rolls-Royce is yours?!
looks like a positive sentence but is actually a question. Intonation is the clue, of course, represented by the punctuation marks.

The moral is: Form and function do not have a one-to-one relationship (in any language).

Making questions and negatives in English

The grammar

The way we make questions and negatives depends on the type of verb we are using. Essentially there are three that concern us here.

1. Lexical or main verbs

Lexical or main verbs are in the majority. They are verbs which describe states or actions and carry meaning even when they are the only verb in the sentence or even the only word. For example
    He smokes
    Stop
    Go
carry meanings but
    He can
or
    He was
do not carry any meaning and must be combined with other words to make any sense. The verbs can and be are auxiliary verbs and we will come to their properties. The verbs smoke, stop and go are lexical or main verbs and the focus here.

English is unusual in the way it makes questions and negatives with lexical or main verbs because we use an operator, the verb do. The operator carries only the grammatical information and no meaning in itself. This is how it works:

Person and tense	Positive sentence	Negative sentence	Question
Present simple tense he she it	He speaks Italian	He does not speak Italian	Does he speak Italian?
			Doesn't he speak Italian?
	She likes oysters	She doesn't like oysters	Does she like oysters?
			Doesn't she like oysters?
	It makes a noise	It doesn't make a noise	Does it make a noise?
			Doesn't it make a noise?
Present simple tense (All other persons)	I speak Italian	I don't speak Italian	Do you speak Italian?
			Don't you speak Italian?
	They enjoy gardening	They don't enjoy gardening	Do they enjoy gardening?
			Don't they enjoy gardening?
	You live in the USA	You don't live in the USA	Do you live in the USA?
			Don't you live in the USA?
Past simple tense (All persons)	She went shopping	She didn't go shopping	Did she go shopping?
			Didn't she go shopping?
	They gave it up	They didn't give it up	Did they give it up?
			Didn't they give it up?
	You lived in London	You didn't live in London	Did you live in London?
			Didn't you live in London?

A few notes:

The only two tenses in the table are present simple and past simple. Other tense forms work differently, as we shall see, because we use different auxiliary verbs to form them.
Here we have given the usual spoken forms of the operator with the contracted form of not (n't). This pattern will be followed in the whole of this guide.
The functions of the negative questions are described below.
The forms used with wh-words (how, what, when, where, why, who, whom, which, whose) have a separate guide to themselves, linked in the list of related guides at the end, and are not discussed here.

2. Auxiliary verbs

Auxiliary verbs come in two types for our purposes here.

Modal auxiliary verbs
These verbs show the speaker's attitude in relation to likelihood, advisability, obligation, possibility and so on. The verbs have some special characteristics and how they form negatives and questions is one of them. For more detail, see the guide to modality, linked below. We are only concerned here with the form of questions and negatives.
There are a lot of these verbs so these are examples only:

Verb	Positive form	Negative form	Question forms
Pure or central modal auxiliary verbs	He can speak Italian	He can't speak Italian	Can he speak Italian?
			Can't he speak Italian?
	She must leave now	She mustn't leave now	Must she leave now?
			Mustn't she leave now?
	It might make a noise	It mightn't make a noise	Might it make a noise?
			Mightn't it make a noise?
	She will be there	She won't be there	Will she be there
			Won't she be there?
Semi-modal auxiliary verbs	I need to speak Italian	I don't need to speak Italian	Do you need to speak Italian?
			Don't you need to speak Italian?
		I needn't speak Italian	Need you speak Italian?
			Needn't you speak Italian?
	They used to enjoy gardening	They didn't use(d) to enjoy gardening	Did they use(d) to enjoy gardening?
			Didn't they use(d) to enjoy gardening?
		They usedn't to enjoy gardening	Used they to enjoy gardening?
			Usedn't they to enjoy gardening?

Primary auxiliary verbs
There are four of these and there is a separate guide to their characteristics on this site, linked below. For the purposes of this guide we will focus on only two: be and have. These verbs alter the tense and aspect of main verbs or they change the voice. Examples only, again:

Function	Positive form	Negative form	Question forms
Making tenses and aspects	He has learned Italian	He hasn't learned Italian	Has he learned Italian?
			Hasn't he learned Italian?
	She is learning Italian	She isn't learning Italian	Is she learning Italian?
			Isn't she learning Italian?
	She will be gardening	She won't be gardening	Will she be gardening?
			Won't she be gardening?
	She has been gardening	She hasn't been gardening	Has she been gardening?
			Hasn't she been gardening?
Changing voice	It was repaired	It wasn't repaired	Was it repaired?
			Wasn't it repaired?
Making tenses and aspects	It is being repaired	It isn't being repaired	Is it being repaired?
			Isn't it being repaired?
	It had been repaired	It hadn't been repaired	Had it been repaired?
			Hadn't it been repaired?

Notes:

Central modal auxiliary verbs and the auxiliaries have and be make their negatives by the insertion of not or n't after the verb.
Central modal auxiliary verbs and the auxiliaries have and be make their questions by reversing the verb and the subject order.
Semi-modal auxiliary verbs exhibit both kinds of question and negative structures.

3. be and have as main verbs

Both these verbs can also appear as main rather than auxiliary verbs. When they do so, they keep some of their auxiliary characteristics but they also take on new ones.
For example:

Function	Positive form	Negative form	Question forms
BE Main verb meaning 'exist'	He is in London	He isn't in London	Is he in London?
	He is in London	He's not in London	Isn't he in London?
	I am in London	I'm not in London	Am I in London?
			Aren't I in London?
			Am I not in London?
	They are very irritating	They aren't very irritating	Are they very irritating?
	They are very irritating	They're not very irritating	Aren't they very irritating?
HAVE Main verb meaning 'possess'	It has two parts	It hasn't (got) two parts	Has it (got) two parts
		It's not got two parts	Hasn't it (got) two parts?
		It doesn't have two parts	Does it have two parts?
		It doesn't have two parts	Doesn't it have two parts?
	He has a house in Paris	He hasn't (got) a house in Paris	Has he (got) a house in Paris?
		He's not got a house in Paris	Hasn't he (got) a house in Paris?
		He doesn't have a house in Paris	Does he have a house in Paris?
		He doesn't have a house in Paris	Doesn't he have a house in Paris?

Notes:

When have acts as a main verb, there are three possible negative and question forms:
1. Inserting not or n't for a negative and reversing the order for a question
2. Inserting not or n't for a negative and reversing the order for a question and also adding the meaningless got to the clause. This is more common in British English.
3. Following the patterns of a main verb and using the do / does / did operator. This is more common in American English but becoming so in British English, too.
  The added complication is that when the verb means be obliged to, it usually takes the negation and question as a main verb but, of course, the meaning alters.
      I have to go = I must go
      Do I have to go? = Must I go?
  BUT:
      I don't have to go = I needn't go
The verb be retains its structures whether it is a main or auxiliary verb but it is very irregular:
1. It does not make the first-person question with the am form. In colloquial English, it uses are instead, as in, e.g.:
  Aren't I clever?
  but that must be in the contracted form and is never
  *Are not I?
2. In formal English the question may be Am I not ...? but that cannot be contracted to *amn't.
3. It never uses the do / does / did operator.
With both be and have, a colloquial negative alternative with the contraction of the verb rather than not is heard. For example:
instead of
    He isn't in London
we can say
    He's not in London
and instead of
    They haven't got the right answer
we can say
    They've not got the right answer
With this form of have, the use of got is obligatory.
It is not possible to say
*They've not the right answer
But we can say:
They don't have the right answer
There is no alternative form for the first-person singular. We can only have
    I'm not coming
or
    I am not coming
because
    *I amn't coming
is not available

This is quite a complicated set of patterns for learners to acquire and it causes a good deal of difficulty and confusion, not only at lower levels.

Adverbs, pronouns and determiners

These three word classes have two forms of negation and a question form. They work like this but the list is not complete:

	Positive form	Negative form 1	Negative form 2	Question forms
Adverbs	It is †somewhat warmer	It isn't any warmer	It is no warmer	Is it any warmer?
				Isn't it any warmer?
	He is still waiting	He isn't waiting any more / longer	He is waiting no more / longer	Is he still waiting?
				Isn't he still waiting?
	They are there already	They aren't there yet	NO FORM	Are they there yet?
				Aren't they there yet?
	She sometimes arrives on time*	She doesn't ever arrive on time	She never arrives on time	Does she ever arrive on time?
				Doesn't she ever arrive on time?
	It is somewhere in the garage	It isn't anywhere in the garage	It's nowhere in the garage	Is it anywhere in the garage?
				Isn't it anywhere in the garage?
Pronouns	I'll complain to someone / somebody	I won't complain to anyone / anybody	I'll complain to no-one / nobody	Will you complain to anyone?
				Won't you complain to anyone?
	I bought some	I didn't buy any	I bought none	Did you buy any?
				Didn't you buy any?
Determiner	She wants some tea	She doesn't want any tea	She wants no tea	Does she want any tea?
				Doesn't she want any tea?

† and other downtoners such as slightly, marginally, a bit, a tad etc.
* and other frequency adverbs such as usually, always, frequently, often etc.
The forms used for negative and interrogative sentences are called non-assertive forms and those used for positive sentences are called assertive forms. There is a guide to assertive and non-assertive forms in the in-service section of the site, linked below.

These five adverbs are sometimes known as negators because they operate in the same way as the negator never.
For example:
Used with Negative (non-assertive) forms 1 (see table above)
    I seldom went anywhere
    I barely saw anything
    I hardly had any time to think
    She scarcely ever comes late
    They rarely come to anyone's party

Negative questions

Negative question forms have a range of functions, many signalled by intonation.

To express the negative orientation of the speaker:
    Does nobody love me? [I assume nobody loves me]
    Can't you get here any earlier? [I assume you can't but I'm hoping you can]
    Won't you reconsider? [I assume you won't]
To express surprise:
    Isn't it too cold to go swimming? [I assumed it was]
    Aren't you too old for this? [I assumed you were]
    Hasn't he left yet? [I assumed he had]
To express disappointment:
Shouldn't you be in bed? [I am disappointed that you are not]
Can't you help a bit? [I am disappointed that you are not helping]

Transferred negation

English has a peculiarity with negation which causes a good deal of difficulty. Most languages will put the negation where it belongs, i.e., with the verb that is being negated.
For example:
    I think that he hasn't done it yet
    I expect he won't come
    I imagine she has no money
etc.
In all these cases, we have a verb signalling belief followed by a clause which is negated in some way.
English, bizarrely, often chooses to negate the first clause and leave the second clause positive. This is why it is called transferred negation. It only occurs with verbs signalling belief or assumption including, but not limited to
    believe, suppose, guess, fancy, imagine, reckon, expect
For the three sentences above, for example, English speakers would naturally select:
    I don't think he's done it yet
    I don't expect he will come
    I don't imagine she has any money

This is deeply illogical and confusing because the negation really belongs with the second, not the first, clause. The proof of this is to consider the natural question tag because the positive question tag reveals the negative meaning of the clause:
I don't suppose he is coming now, is he?
I don't reckon we'll be there before 8, will we?
For more on question tags, see the guide, linked below.

Problems for learners

The way that English operates in this area is clearly quite complicated and learners at all levels make errors. Here are some examples. Think about what the source of the error could be and then click on the to reveal some comments.

I don't can come	The problem exemplified here is that the learner has acquired the difficult and unusual way English makes questions with main verbs, using do / does / did. Unfortunately, learners often carry this over to modal auxiliary verbs and other verbs which do not* use the form.*
Go you out?	Many language make all or most question forms by simply reversing the subject and the object. English does this for modal auxiliary verbs and auxiliaries as we have seen but it uses the odd and non-intuitive do / does / did form for main verbs.
You go out?	Many languages do not have a separate structure for question forms at all and rely on intonation in spoken language and punctuation in written language. English can do this as we saw above with the example, Coming?, but it is quite rare and very informal.
I don't have some money	The way that English uses determiners and pronouns like some and any is unique to the language and the system, as we saw above, is complicated. All languages differ in this respect.
I think he hasn't done it already	There are two issues here: The first is that a more natural statement in English would be to transfer the negation to the first clause and say I don't think ... . Very few languages work like English in this respect. The second problem is with the adverb already. In questions and negatives in English, the adverb usually changes to yet. The correct statement should be: I don't think he has done it yet.
Does he have got the book?	The insertion of the wholly meaningless verb got in British English in particular causes problems because it cannot be used with the do operator. There is a good argument for confining the teaching of the question and negative forms of have as a main verb to the use of the do operator.
He doesn't have been	A learner may well be forgiven for assuming that the verb have always works the same way but its existence as both a main verb and an auxiliary verb is confusing.
It hasn't was fixed yet	Not knowing how to build tense and aspect forms in English when both the auxiliary be and have are used is quite common. It requires careful teaching and practice.
I seldom don't have some	There are two issues here, too: The first is that seldom is a negator in English and following it with a negative with don't makes a double negative in English. While that is permissible in many languages, English does not usually allow it. The second problem is with the pronoun some. In questions and negatives in English, the pronoun usually changes to any. The correct statement should be: I seldom have any.
He denies doing something They have failed to be here already	The issue here is to with the meaning of the verb. A number of verbs in English are negative in their sense so the form of the adverb or the pronoun is also negative. These include verbs such as deny, negate, repudiate, reject, scrap, fail, discard, avoid, escape, duck, regret, dislike, abhor etc. which all carry a negative meaning. For example: He denied any wrongdoing [not He denied some wrongdoing] The have failed to be here yet [not They have failed to be here already] She avoided speaking to anyone [not *She avoided speaking to someone].

Teaching

All these problems need careful handling. The central issues are:

Do not underestimate how complex this area is.
Do not assume that other languages have similar forms and structures. They do not.
Do not overload learners. Teach the structures in isolation before trying to combine them.
There is little point, for example, in trying to teach the changes to pronouns, adverbs and determiners all at once and none at all until the basic negative and question structures have been acquired.

Related guides
negation	this is a more technical guide covering some peculiarities of the negative and learner difficulties with it
question tags	for a guide to other ways of making questions
interrogatives	this is a more technical guide covering the form of interrogatives in English
assertive and non-assertive forms	this is a more technical guide in the in-service section to pronouns, determiners and adverbs
primary auxiliary verbs	a guide to a troublesome area
modality essentials	the essential guide to modal auxiliary verbs
wh-questions	find out here about how to form questions with what, who, how, why etc.