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Transformation of sentences from Affirmative to Negative –

1 . Using ‘not’ and the opposite word of the adjective –

Example –
Affirmative – He is a good boy.
Negative – He is not a bad boy.

Here we use ‘not’ after the subject and the verb . We also use ‘bad’ , the opposite word of the adjective ‘good’.

Example –
Affirmative – She is fast .
Negative – She is not slow.

Affirmative – He can finish the game properly.
Negative – He can’t finish the game improperly.



2. If there is only a main verb in any affirmative sentence then we use don’t / doesn’t / didn’t / will not before the main verb to transform the sentence to a negative one.

Example –
Affirmative – They play  well.
Negative – They don’t play badly.

Affirmative – He completes the job perfectly.
Negative – He doesn’t complete the job imperfectly.

Affirmative – She planned the lesson properly.
Negative – She didn’t plan the lesson improperly .

Affirmative – They will finish the project carefully.
Negative – They will not finish the project carelessly.



3 . If there is ‘always’ in any affirmative sentence then to transform the sentence to a negative one we use ‘never’ in the place of ‘always’ and also use the opposite word of the adjective.

Example-
Affirmative – He is always active.
Negative – He is never inactive.



4. If there is ‘too’ in any affirmative sentence –

Example –
Affirmative – The old man is too weak to walk.
Negative – The old man is so weak that he can’t walk.



5. If there is ‘As …..as’ and Positive degree in an affirmative sentence –

Example –
Affirmative – Susan is as good as her sister.
Negative – Susan is not less good than her sister.



6. If there is ‘than’ and Comparative degree in an affirmative sentence –

Example –
Affirmative – Himalaya is higher than Karakoram.
Negative – Karakoram is not as high as Himalaya.



7. If there is ‘Than any other / Than all other’ in a Comparative degree of an affirmative sentence –

Example-
Affirmative – Rimo is faster than any other athletics in the academy.
Negative – No other athletics in the academy is as fast as Rimo.


Affirmative – Mount Everest is higher than all the other mountain peaks in the world.

Negative – No other mountain peak in the world is as high as Mount Everest.




8. If there is Superlative degree in any affirmative sentence –

Example –
Affirmative – Rimo was the fastest player in the team.

Negative – No other player in the team was as fast as Rimo.





9. If there is ‘Less ….than’ in an affirmative sentence –

Example –
Affirmative – The model is less effective than you said.

Negative – The model is not as effective as you said.




10. If there is ‘every’ in any affirmative sentence then to transform the sentence to a negative one we use following format –

Example –
Affirmative – Everyone wants success.
Negative – There is no one but wants success.

Affirmative – Everybody wants success.
Negative – There is nobody but wants success.

Affirmative – Every person wants success.
Negative – There is no person but wants success.


11. If there is ‘everyday’ in any affirmative sentence then we follow the structure below to transform the sentence to a negative one –

Example –
Affirmative – He goes to school everyday.
Negative- He never misses school .


12. If there is ‘Only’ or ‘Alone’ in any affirmative sentence then to transform the sentence to a negative one we use ‘None but’ in the place of ‘Only’ or ‘Alone.’


Example –
Affirmative – Only Susan can solve it.
Negative – None but Susan can solve it.

Affirmative – Alone Rimo can do it.
Negative – None but Rimo can do it.





13 . If there is ‘Only’ or ‘Alone’ in any affirmative sentence and it indicates anything instead of any person then we use ‘Nothing but.’

Example –
Affirmative – Only football can be played now.

Negative – Nothing but football can be played now.




14. If there is ‘only’ in any affirmative sentence and it indicates number or age then we use ‘Not more than’ in the place of ‘only’ to transform the sentence to a negative one.

Example –
Affirmative – Rimo’s father has only two cars.
Negative – Rimo’s father has not more than two cars.

Affirmative – Susan is only sixteen years old.
Negative – Susan is not more than sixteen years old.




15. If there is ‘As soon as’ in affirmative sentence then we follow the format below to transform the sentence to a negative one –

Example –
Affirmative – As soon as he reached home, the rain started.

Negative – No sooner had he reached home than the rain started.



16. If there is ‘many’ in an affirmative sentence then we use ‘not a few’ in the place of ‘many’ to transform the sentence to a negative one.

Example –
Affirmative – There are many trees in our garden.

Negative – There are not a few trees in our garden .



17. If there is ‘a few’ in an affirmative sentence then we use ‘ not many’ in the place of ‘a few’ to transform the sentence to a negative one.

Example-
Affirmative – There are a few trees in their garden.

Negative – There are not many trees in their garden.


18. If there is ‘much’ in an affirmative sentence then we use ‘not a little’ in the place of ‘much’ to transform the sentence to a negative one.

Example –
Affirmative – The process needs much water to be used.

Negative – The process needs not a little water to be used.



19. If there is ‘a little’ in an affirmative sentence then we use ‘not much’ in the place of ‘much’ to transform the sentence to a negative one.

Example-
Affirmative – He has a little time to answer the question.

Negative – He has not much time to answer the question.





20 . If there is ‘must’ in an affirmative sentence then we use ‘can not but’ or ‘can not help’ in the place of ‘must’ to transform the sentence to a negative one.

But if we use ‘can not help’ then we need to add ‘ing’ with the verb used after ‘can not help.’

Example-
Affirmative – The student must complete the lesson.
Negative – The student can not but complete the lesson.

Affirmative – He must assist his colleagues .
Negative – He can not help assisting his colleagues.




21 . If there is ‘sometimes’ in any affirmative sentence then we use ‘not always’ in the place of ‘sometimes’ to transform the sentence to a negative one –

Example-
Affirmative – The method is sometimes effective.
Negative – The method is not always effective.

Affirmative – Rimo sometimes visits the library.
Negative- Rimo doesn’t always visit the library.





Transformation of sentences from Negative to Affirmative –

Just use the formulas given above in opposite directions.