Bog'liq English Grammar- A Resource Book for Students
A7.1 Negatives and interrogatives Negatives and interrogatives with auxiliaries If there is a modal or primary auxiliary in the verb phrase then negatives are formed
by placing not after the auxiliary; if there is more than one auxiliary, it is placed after
the first one:
I am not lying. (the negative of the present progressive)
You have not done it. (the negative of the present perfect)
They will not do it. (the negative of the modal will)
It was not being done. (the negative of the past progressive passive)
When not is placed after can it is usually written as one word: cannot (can not is also
found in American English).
Interrogatives are formed by the ‘inversion’ of the auxiliary and the subject – that
is, by swapping their positions:
Can you do it? (the interrogative of You can do it.)
Have they finished it? (the interrogative of They have finished it.)
(Note that inversion has other limited functions in English; see A11.)
This section only deals with one type of interrogative/question, the socalled yes/
no questions, since they are the direct counterparts of positive (declarative) sentences.
Other types, such as wh- and tag questions, are dealt with in B9.
A7
