Impact-e English Training

Lesson Nine Grammar Explanation

The negative Present Simple:

We make the negative Present Simple by using do not (don't) or does not (doesn't) and the base form of the main verb. With he, she and it the helping verb "do" takes the -s. E.g. "He does not work." not: "He do not works". Auxiliary verbs, such as to be, to have got and can are exceptions.

Word order: The words always, never, sometimes, often, usually and seldom go between not and the main verb most of the time. E.g. "He does not always work."

Negatives	I do not work	You do not work	He does not work	She does not work	It does not work	We do not work	You do not work	They do not work
Examples:	I do not work in a nice office.	You do not work every day.	He does not work for a big company.	She does not work a lot.	It does not work very well.	We do not work from 9:00 to 5:00.	You do not work in Taiwan.	They do not work for my company.
Negatives (short form)	I don't work	You don't work	He doesn't work	She doesn't work	It doesn't work	We don't work	You don't work	They don't work
Examples:	I don't work in a nice office.	You don't work every day.	He doesn't work for a big company.	She doesn't work a lot.	It doesn't work very well.	We don't work from 9:00 to 5:00.	You don't work in Taiwan.	They don't work for my company.
Negatives	I do not do	You do not do	He does not do	She does not do	It does not do	We do not do	You do not do	They do not do
Examples:	I do not do a lot of work every day.	You do not do many things at work.	He does not do different tasks every week.	She does not do the filing on Fridays.	It does not do many things very quickly.	We do not usually do our work very quickly.	You do not do your telephoning in the mornings.	They do not do difficult tasks every day.
Negatives (short form)	I don't do	You don't do	He doesn't do	She doesn't do	It doesn't do	We don't do	You don't do	They don't do
Examples:	I don't do a lot of work every day.	You don't do many things at work.	He doesn't do different tasks every week.	She doesn't do the filing on Fridays.	It doesn't do many things very quickly.	We don't usually do our work very quickly.	You don't do your telephoning in the mornings.	They don't do difficult tasks every day.
Negatives	I do not have	You do not have	He does not have	She does not have	It does not have	We do not have	You do not have	They do not have
Examples:	I do not have a big office.	You do not have a good secretary.	He does not have a new job.	She does not have lunch every day.	It does not have many programs.	We do not always have meetings.	You do not usually have many appointments.	They do not have their break at 2:30 every day.
Negatives (short form)	I don't have	You don't have	He doesn't have	She doesn't have	It doesn't have	We don't have	You don't have	They don't have
Examples:	I don't have a big office.	You don't have a good secretary.	He doesn't have a new job.	She doesn't have lunch every day.	It doesn't have many programs.	We don't always have meetings.	You don't usually have many appointments.	They don't have their break at 2:30 every day.

Click here to go to the grammar practice area for Lesson Nine.