ESL Lesson Plan for Teaching Sentence Negation

How to Teach ESL Students to Negate English Sentences

May 14, 2009

The following lesson plan can be used by ESL teachers to teach ESL students to negate sentences in English.

Speakers of English as a second language must learn to negate sentences in English. The following lesson plan can be used by ESL teachers to teach ESL students to negate English sentences.

Negating Verb Phrases

First explain that sentences in English can be negated through verb phrase negation. Verb phrases in English can be negated by inserting the negative adverb not after the first auxiliary verb of the verb phrase or by inserting the do operator and the negative adverb not before the verb. For example, the following sentence pairs are examples of positive and negated English sentences in which the verb phrases are negated:

The students have aced the exam. (positive)
The students have not aced the exam. (negated)

Play with the baby. (positive)
Do not play with the baby. (negated)

Could you play your guitar? (positive)
Could you not play your guitar? (negated)

She will have earned her degree. (positive)
She will not have earned her degree. (negated)

You could have been eating your dessert by now. (positive)
You could not have been eating your dessert by now. (negated)

Teachers should also point out to students that verb phrase negation with the adverb not is the preferred method for negation in English.

Negating Noun Phrases

Next explain that sentences in English can be negated through noun phrase negation. Noun phrases in English can be negated by inserting the quantifying determiner no in front of the noun phrase. For example, the following sentence pairs are examples of positive and negated English sentences in which the noun phrases are negated:

I have time today. (positive)
I have no time today. (negated)

Dogs are allowed in my house. (positive)
No dogs are allowed in my house. (negated)

The store will sell food. (positive)
The store will sell no food. (negated)

Credit cards are accepted at the market. (positive)
No credit cards are accepted at the market. (negated)

There are storms in the weather forecast. (positive)
There are no storms in the weather forecast. (negated)

Teachers should also discuss the limitations of noun phrase negation. Only plural, noncount, and collective nouns can be negated with the quantifier no. Plural nouns indicate more than one of the noun as in cats and books. Noncount nouns are defined as nouns that are not usually counted and do not have plural forms as in rice and deer. Collective nouns are defined as nouns that name groups as in coven and family.

Negating Adjective Phrases

Then explain that sentences in English can be negated through adjective phrase negation. Adjective phrases in English can be negated by inserting the negative adverb not in front of the adjective phrase. For example, the following sentence pairs are examples of positive and negated English sentences in which the adjective phrases are negated:

The man is tall. (positive)
The man is not tall. (negated)

My mother was pregnant. (positive)
My mother was not pregnant. (negated)

Her boss was unfriendly. (positive)
Her boss was not unfriendly. (negated)

He is a wonderful person. (positive)
He is not a wonderful person. (negated)

She is an unhappy baby. (positive)
She is not an unhappy baby. (negated)

Teachers should point out to students that adjective phrase negation most often occurs when the adjective phrase is part of a subject complement.

Other English Negations

Next discuss the other words in English that can form negated sentences. Other English negations include negative pronouns such as no one, nobody, and none and the negative adverb never. For example, the following sentences pairs are examples of positive and negated English sentences that contain other negative words:

She bought someone a present. (positive)
She bought no one a present. (negated)

Somebody called for you. (positive)
Nobody called for you. (negated)

I have some. (positive)
I have none. (negated)

The custodian has always forgotten to empty my trash. (positive)
The custodian has never forgotten to empty my trash. (negated)

Always knock before entering. (positive)
Never knock before entering. (negated)

Teachers should also mention that the pronouns someone, somebody, and some are often used as the opposites of no one, nobody, and none and the adverb always as the opposite of never.

Double Negatives

Finally talk about double negatives. Most Germanic languages including English proscribe against the use of double negatives. However, double negatives appear in both spoken and written English in all but the most formal registers. Students should learn to negate English sentences with only single negating words but should also be aware of the presence of double negatives in some forms of the English language.

ESL students must learn to negate sentences in English in order to fully and correctly communicate with the English language. This lesson plan can be used by ESL teachers to teach negation to speakers of English as a second language.

Sources

Hopper, Paul J. A Short Course in Grammar. W.W. Norton & Company: New York, 1999.

MacFadyen, Heather. "What Is a Noun?" The Writing Centre in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ottawa. 27 Apr. 2009. University of Ottawa. 13 May. 2009.

"Negative Sentences and Question Formation in English." WhiteSmoke. 2002. WhiteSmoke Inc. 13 May. 2009.

The copyright of the article ESL Lesson Plan for Teaching Sentence Negation in ESL Materials is owned by Heather Marie Kosur. Permission to republish ESL Lesson Plan for Teaching Sentence Negation in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.