SHORT FORM NEGATIVES

 **Short Form Negatives in English**

In English, **short form negatives** (also called **contractions**) are created by combining a verb with the word **"not"**. These contractions are commonly used in informal writing and speech to make sentences sound more natural and conversational.

### **How to Form Short Form Negatives:**

The most common way to form short negatives is by joining the verb and *not*, often with an apostrophe (*) to indicate the missing letters.

#### **Examples of Short Form Negatives:**

1. **With Auxiliary Verbs:**

   - **is not** → *isn’t*

     - *He isn’t coming.*

   - **are not** → *aren’t*

     - *They aren’t here yet.*

   - **was not** → *wasn’t*

     - *She wasn’t at the party.*

   - **were not** → *weren’t*

     - *We weren’t expecting you.*

2. **With Helping Verbs:**

   - **do not** → *don’t*

     - *I don’t like pizza.*

   - **does not** → *doesn’t*

     - *She doesn’t know the answer.*

   - **did not** → *didn’t*

     - *He didn’t finish his homework.*

3. **With Modal Verbs:**

   - **cannot** → *can’t*

     - *I can’t swim.*

   - **will not** → *won’t*

     - *She won’t attend the meeting.*

   - **would not** → *wouldn’t*

     - *He wouldn’t do that.*

   - **should not** → *shouldn’t*

     - *You shouldn’t go outside.*

   - **could not** → *couldn’t*

     - *They couldn’t find the keys.*

   - **might not** → *mightn’t*

     - *I mightn’t be able to join you.*

   - **must not** → *mustn’t*

     - *You mustn’t talk loudly.*

4. **With "have" and "had":**

   - **have not** → *haven’t*

     - *I haven’t seen the movie yet.*

   - **has not** → *hasn’t*

     - *She hasn’t done her homework.*

   - **had not** → *hadn’t*

     - *They hadn’t arrived on time.*

### **Usage:**

- Short form negatives are typically used in **informal conversation**, emails, text messages, and casual writing. 

- In **formal writing**, it’s better to use the full forms (*do not, will not, have not*).

### **Examples in Sentences:**

- *I don’t understand the problem.*

- *She isn’t coming to the party.*

- *We haven’t finished the project yet.*

- *He won’t agree to those terms.*

### **Summary:**

Short form negatives make sentences more concise and informal. They are created by contracting auxiliary or modal verbs with *not* using an apostrophe.