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| Arup Roy, Lecturer in English Language & Literature, Kanchkura University College |
Rule Number one: "Always" in an affirmative sentence turns into "never" in a negative sentence; you also need to find out the antonym of a verb, noun, or adjective to preserve the meaning.
Affirmative: We all should always speak the truth. Negative: We all should never tell a lie.
Affirmative: He is always emotional. Negative: He is never rational.
Affirmative: He will always remember you. Negative: He will never forget you.
Affirmative: He is always happy. Negative: He is never sad.
Affirmative: The man always smiles. Negative: The man never cries.
Rule Number Two: "As soon as" in an affirmative sentence is replaced by "No sooner had" in a negative sentence.
Affirmative: As soon as I reached the station, the train left.
Negative: No sooner had I reached the station than the train left.
Affirmative: As soon as I heard the news, I rushed to the hospital.
Negative: No sooner had I heard the news than I rushed to the hospital.
Rule Number Three: "All" in an affirmative sentence turns into "no" in a negative sentence and you have to find out an antonym for the verb or adjective of the affirmative sentence.
Affirmative: All women should be respected.
Negative: No women should be disrespected.
Affirmative: All must die.
Negative: No one can avoid death.
Affirmative: All but he has brought cars.
Negative: No one (or, none) but he has not brought cars.
Rule Number Four: We replace "must" with "cannot but" when "all" is not subject.
Affirmative: We must study seriously.
Negative: We cannot but study seriously.
Affirmative: They must respect the environment.
Negative: They cannot but respect the environment.
Affirmative: You must respect your elder.
Negative: You cannot but respect your elder.
Rule Number Five: When two subjects or verbs or objects or complements are joined by "and" in an affirmative sentence, we are to use "not only ... but also" before those subjects or verbs or complements or objects.
Affirmative: Rohan and Rohit played well.
Negative: Not only Rohan but also Rohit played well.
Affirmative: He is a teacher and singer.
Negative: He is not only a teacher but also a singer.
Affirmative: He ate banana and mango.
Negative: He ate not only a banana but also a mango.
Affirmative: I bought and drank some juice.
Negative: I not only brought but also drank some juice.
Rule Number Six: "Only" in an affirmative is replaced by "None but" or "nothing but" (for an object) or "not more than" (for age or number) in a negative sentence.
Affirmative: Only God can save us.
Negative: None but God can save us.
Affirmative: Only he can run fast.
Negative: None but he can run fast.
Affirmative: Only the bad should be punished.
Negative: None but the bad should be punished.
Affirmative: Only it costs $5000.
Negative: Nothing but it costs $5000.
Affirmative: They are only seventeen.
Negative: They are not more than seventeen.
Affirmative: I have only two houses.
Negative: I have not more than two houses
Rule Number Seven: "Sometimes" in affirmative is replaced by "not always" in negative.
Affirmative: He sometimes writes.
Negative: He does not always write.
Affirmative: I sometimes swim in the river.
Negative: I do not always swim in the river.
Rule Number Eight: "Not a few" sits in the place of "many" and ""not much" and "not a little" sit in the place of "a little" or "much".
Affirmative: There are many students in this class.
Negative: There are not a few students in this class.
Affirmative: I have a few cars.
Negative: I do not have many cars.
Affirmative: I love to drink a lot of milk.
Negative: I love to drink not a little milk.
Rule Number Nine: "For the last time" in affirmative turns into "never" in a negative sentence.
Affirmative: I am watching a Bangla cinema for the last time.
Negative: I will never watch Bangla cinema.
Affirmative: I visited Sndarban for the last time.
Negative: I Have never visited Sundarban since then.
Rule Number Ten: We are to use "never" in the place of "forever" or "for good"
Affirmative: I have given up alcohol forever.
Negative: I will never take alcohol.
Affirmative: They have sold their old house for good.
Negative: They will never buy their old house.
Affirmative: I Played cricket for the last time.
Negative: I never played cricket again.
Rule Number Eleven: If any auxiliary verb such as am/is/are/was/were is used as the main verb followed by an adjective, we have to find out the antonym of that adjective.
Affirmative: He is happy.
Negative: He is not unhappy.
Affirmative: He is a knowledgeable person.
Negative: He is not an unlettered person.
Rule Number Twelve: If any negative sentence starts with "there is no", You have to start your affirmative sentence with "every"
Affirmative: There is nobody but hates a liar.
Negative: Everybody hates a liar.
Affirmative: There is nobody but loves an honest man.
Negative: Everybody loves an honest person.
Rule Number Thirteen: Replace "everybody" with "nobody" and find out the antonym of the adjective of the affirmative sentence.
Affirmative: Everybody is dependent
Negative: Nobody is independent.
Affirmative: Everybody is emotional.
Negative: Nobody is rational.
Affirmative: Nobody is perfect.
Negative: Everybody is imperfect.
Rule Number Fourteen: Superlative degree should be transformed into a positive degree to transform an affirmative sentence into a negative one.
Affirmative: Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar are the best batsmen in the world.
Negative: No other batsman in the world is as good as Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar.
Rule Number Fifteen: Comparative degree is also transformed into a positive degree to convert the affirmative into a negative sentence.
Affirmative: He is better than any other student in the class.
Negative: No other student is as good as he.
Affirmative: Dhaka is bigger than any other city in Bangladesh
Negative: No other city in Bangladesh is as big as Dhaka.
Rule Number Sixteen: Sometimes we are to find out an antonym of the adjective if we want to transform an affirmative sentence into a negative sentence.
B. He is rich. = He is not poor.
C. He is a fool. = He is not wise.
D. He is a bad man. = He is not a good man
E. The room is tidy. = The room is not untidy.
F. He is happy. = He is not unhappy.
G. He is tall = he is not short.
H. The boy was present. = The boy was not absent.
Rule Number Seventeen: "There is no…………….but"/ "There is no...who does not"/ "There is nobody but" replaces "every".
Affirmative: Every mother loves her child.
Negative: There is no mother who does not love her child. Or, there is no mother but loves her child.
Affirmative: Everybody loves a good-hearted man.
Negative: There is no body who does not love a good-hearted man. Or: There is nobody but loves a good-hearted man. Or, who does not love a good-hearted man.
Affirmative: Everybody likes flowers.
Negative: There is nobody who does not like flowers. Or, There is nobody but likes flowers.
Affirmative: Everybody has some needs.
Negative: There is no body who has no needs. Or, There is nobody who does not have any needs. Or, There is nobody but has some needs.
Affirmative: Every person must fall prey to death.
Negative: No person can avoid death. Or, There is no person but must fall prey to death. or, There is no person who will not fall prey to death.
Affirmative: Everyone will admit that he played best.
Negative: No one will deny that he played best. Or, There is none (no one) who will deny that he played best. Or, There is no one but will admit that he played best.
Affirmative: Everyone must submit to his / her fate.
Negative: No one can escape his / her fate. Negative: or, There is no one who can escape his / her fate. or, There is no one who will not submit to his / her fate. or, There is no one but will submit to his / her fate.
Affirmative: Everyone loves him.
Negative: No one hates him. or, There is no one who does not love him. or, There is no one but loves him.
Affirmative: Everybody is liable to error.
Negative: Nobody is free from error. or, There is no body who is not liable to error. or, There is no body who is free from error. or, There is nobody but is liable to error.
Affirmative: Everybody is needy.
Negative: Nobody is self-sufficient. Or, there is no body who is not needy. Or, There is nobody who is self-sufficient. Or, There is nobody but is needy.
Affirmative: Everybody is dependent.
Negative: Negative: Nobody is self-reliant. Or, nobody is independent.
Rule Number Nineteen: we can also convert affirmative into a negative sentence by using antonym of the adverb.
Affirmative: He acted foolishly.
Negative: He did not act wisely.
Affirmative: He played seriously.
Negative: He did not play half-heartedly.
Affirmative: They smiled confidently.
Negative: They did not smile half-heartedly.
Affirmative: He is better than all the other boys in the class.
Negative: No other boy in the class is as good as he is.
Rule Number Twenty: "Too...to" expression should be replaced by "so...that". If there is a "too...to" expression in the affirmative sentence, we should replace "too" with "so" and then we should retain the adjective of the affirmative sentence before writing "that". Afterward, we should write "cannot/could not" in response to tense plus the rest of the part.
Affirmative: He is too poor to buy a car.
Negative: He is so poor that he cannot buy a car.
Affirmative: He was too weak to move.
Negative: He was so weak that he could not move.
Transformation of Structural Sentence: Part One