Negatives and interrogatives with verbs
Historically, English formed the negative and interrogative of verbs in the same way
as for auxiliaries: by adding not and by inverting respectively. You may sometimes
encounter archaic forms such as I know not, I like it not.
However, in modern English, verbs are not allowed to invert with the subject
and cannot have not placed after them (for an apparent exception to this see proforms
in B11). If there is no auxiliary, a ‘dummy’ auxiliary, do, is introduced into the verb
phrase. This is then used for inversion and for attaching not:
Do you know?
I do not know.
In this situation, do is the finite verb form (see A5). So any third person or tense ending
is transferred to it (as does or did) and the verb is changed to the infinitive. Thus
She likes it.
I hated it.
become
She does not like it and Does she like it?
I did not hate it and Did you hate it?
It is also possible to use do for emphasis, i.e. to say
She does like it. I did hate it.
These might be used to contradict suggestions that ‘she does not like it’ or that ‘I did
not hate it’.
When they are used as verbs, be, do and have behave differently from each other.
Be is treated like an auxiliary (i.e. there is no need for do):
We are strong. We are not strong. Are we strong? (Not ‘Do we be strong?’)
Though it may sound strange, do uses the dummy auxiliary do:
I did it. I did not do it. Did I do it?
Have can function either way. It is common with do:
We have the time. We do not have the time. Do we have the time?
It rarely behaves like an auxiliary; if it does then in the negative a contraction would
be usual:
We haven’t the time (rather than We have not . . . ). Have we the time?
Turn the following sentences into the corresponding negative and interrogative.
1. I have been unwell.
2. They believed me.
3. I do yoga once a week.
4. He should have listened to me.
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