Collins Cobuild English Grammar (107 page)

5.56
    If the verb is
have
, you usually put
do
,
does
, or
did
after the subject, followed by
not
or
-n’t
, followed by the base form
have
.

The organization
does not have
a good track record.
He
didn’t have
a very grand salary.

You can simply put
not
or
-n’t
after the verb, but this use is less common, and almost never used in modern American English.

He
hadn’t
enough money.
I
haven’t
any papers to say that I have been trained.

If you use
have got
, you put
not
or
-n’t
after
have
, followed by
got
.

I
haven’t got
the latest figures.
He
hasn’t got
a daughter.

Have got
is explained in paragraph
3.15
.

position with
-ing
forms and
to
-infinitives

5.57
    When
not
is used with an
-ing
form or a
to
-infinitive clause, it is placed in front of the
-ing
form or
to
-infinitive.

We stood there,
not knowing
what was expected of us.
He lost out by
not taking
a degree at another university.
Try
not to worry
.
It took a vast amount of patience
not to strangle
him.

with an inflected form and an
-ing
form or
to
-infinitive

5.58
    When a clause contains an inflected verb and an
-ing
form or
to
-infinitive, you put
not
either with the inflected form or with the
-ing
form or
to
-infinitive, depending on the meaning you want to express.

For example, you can say either
Mary tried not to smile
or
Mary did not try to smile
, but they express different meanings. The first means that Mary tried to avoid smiling. The second means that Mary did not even try to smile.

However, with some verbs that are used with
to
-infinitives, the meaning is the same whether
not
is placed with the main verb or with the
to
-infinitive.

She
did not appear
to have done anything.
Henry
appears not to appreciate
my explanation.
It
didn’t seem
to bother them at all.
They
seemed not to notice
me.

Here is a list of verbs that are used with
to
-infinitives. With all of these, the meaning of the clause is the same, whether
not
is put in front of the verb or in front of the
to
-infinitive:

appear

expect

happen

intend

plan

seem

tend

want

wish

The use of two verbs in a clause to talk about two actions or states is dealt with in paragraphs
3.182
to
3.212
.

Note that with some
reporting verbs
the meaning is the same whether you put
not
in front of the reporting verb or in front of the main verb. This is explained in paragraph
7.13
.

contractions of
not

5.59
    In spoken English and in informal written English,
not
is often shortened to
-n’t
after
be
or
have
or after an auxiliary.
-n’t
is attached to the end of the verb.

Maria is
n’t
really my aunt at all.
He does
n’t
believe in anything.
I have
n’t
heard from her recently.

Note that
cannot
is shortened to
can’t
,
shall not
is shortened to
shan’t
, and
will not
is shortened to
won’t
.

Here is a complete list of the shortened forms you can use:

aren’t

isn’t

wasn’t

weren’t

didn’t

doesn’t

don’t

hadn’t

hasn’t

haven’t

can’t

couldn’t

mightn’t

mustn’t

oughtn’t

shan’t

shouldn’t

won’t

wouldn’t

USAGE NOTE

5.60
    Note that if the verb is already shortened and added to its subject, you cannot shorten
not
to
-n’t
. This means, for example, that you can shorten
she is not
to
she isn’t
or
she’s not
, but not to
she’sn’t
.

It
isn’t
easy.
It’
s not
easy.
I
haven’t
had time.
I’
ve not
had time.

Note that you cannot add
-n’t
to
am
. You can only use
I’m not
as the shortened form.

I’m not
excited.

The form
aren’t I
is used in questions.

In questions,
not
is usually shortened to
-n’t
and added to the first verb in the verb phrase.

Didn’t
she win at the Olympics?
Hasn’t
he put on weight?
Aren’t
you bored?

However, in formal English, it is also possible to put
not
after the subject.

Did he
not
have brothers?
Was it
not
rather absurd?

other uses of
not

5.61
    You can also use
not
with almost any word or word group in a clause. For example, you can use it with nouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, and some quantity expressions such as
a lot of
. You usually do this in order to be more forceful, careful, polite, hesitant, and so on. The following paragraphs
5.63
and
5.64
describe some of these uses.

5.62
    
Very
is often used after
not
to soften the negative meaning of a clause. This sounds more polite or hesitant than using
not
without
very
.

His attitude is
not very logical
.
It’s
not very strong tea
; it won’t stain.
He wasn’t
a very good actor
.
She shook her head, but
not very convincingly
.

You can use
not
with
absolutely
,
altogether
,
entirely
, or
necessarily
in a similar way. You do this in order to sound more polite or less critical.

Previous experience is
n’t absolutely necessary
, but it helps.
I was
not altogether sure
.
They are
not entirely reliable
.
Science is
not necessarily hostile
to human values.

You use
not
to show that the thing you are describing does in fact have some good qualities, although you do not want to make them sound better than they really are. This structure is often used with words that have a negative prefix such as
un-
or
-less
.

She’s
not an unattractive woman
.
It’s
not a bad start
.
It’s a small point, but
not an unimportant one
.
America is very well developed, but
not limitless
.

not
used for contrast

5.63
    
Not
is sometimes used to contrast one part of a clause with another. Using
not
in this way emphasizes the positive part of a statement.

He held her arm in his hand,
not hard
, but firmly.
We move steadily,
not fast
,
not slow
.
‘Were they still interested?’ – ‘
Not just interested
. Overjoyed.’
I will move eventually, but
not from Suffolk
.
It’s
not a huge hotel
, but it’s very nice.