Negative Sentences & Closed Questions

In English, when we need to express negative ideas, we use the negative word NOT after the verb "To be".

Ramon is not 27 years old. Pam and Ramon are not from Canada.

Negative Verb Contractions

There is something in English called: Contractions. Contractions make your English sound more natural or fluent. With practice, using contractions between the "subject", the verb "to be", and the negative word "not" will be a piece of cake.

Option 1: Contract the "Subject" and the verb "To be"

Whether you choose to use the name (Ramon) or a substitution (He), you can put together any of theese two elements and use them together by using an apostrophe (') between them. .

Ramon's not 27 years old. He's not 27 years old. Ramon and Pam are not at home. They're not at home. I'm not in love.

Option 2: Contract the verb "To be" and "Not"

You can also choose to contract "To be" in any form with the negative word after it.

Ramon isn't 27 years old. He isn't 27 years old. Pam and Ramon aren't at home. They aren't at home. They'ren't at home.

You can of course do the same with all subjects: She's not or She isn't...etc.

Types of Sentences

Statements or Affirmative & Negative Sentences.

Now, you know how that we start sentences or statements with the subject (the person), and then we use the verb "To be" depending on the subject.

We call this: Statements or Sentences. A Statement can be Positive

Ellie is a smart girl. She and her family are from California.

Or it can be Negative

Ellie is not from Mexico. She and her family are not Canadians.

Closed Questions

Closed Questions or Yes-No Questions are the most basic form of interaction between two people. "To be" is used in questions using something called: Inversion

Inversion is the process of switching or changing positions with the purpose of asking a question. Basically, all you have to do is switch the position of the Subject and the Verb.

A: Is she smart (intelligent)?- B: Yes, she is! A: Are you from Chile? - B: Yes, I am! A: Is it cold today? - B: Yes, it is.

Of course, you can say no. Just make sure to use the negative word not.

A: Are you from Chile? - B: No, I'm not. I'm from Uruguay. A: Is it cold today? - B: Yes, it isn't. It's actually really hot!

To be practical, you can use short answers. Both options are correct.

A: Are you from Chile? - B: I'm not. I'm from Uruguay. A: Are you from Chile? - B: No, I'm from Uruguay.

It's time to practice! Click on the orange button below and complete the activities for this lesson. Good luck and See you in the next lesson!