Affirmative to negative

Affirmative to negative

 

While changing from affirmative to negative and vise versa you have to remember that you can do the transformation without changing the meaning of the sentence. Some basic rules are given below with examples, although these rules are not always applicable in all respects. Because sometimes you can change an affirmative sense in to negative one from different angle applying different techniques.

Note: we have used bold and italic sign to highlight the changes in the sentence.

 

Rule: 1. “Never + opposite word” must be used to make a sentence negative containing “always”. a

 

Example

 

• Affirmative: People always hate autocratic rule.
• Negative: People never like autocratic rule.

“in the first example, (never) is used in place of (always) and (like) is used as the opposite word of (hate) to make the above mentioned sentence negative.”

 

• Affirmative: we always regard the martyrs who laid down their lives for their countrymen.
• negative: we never disregard the martyrs who laid down their lives for their countrymen.

“in the second example, (never) is replaced by (always) and (disregard) is used as the antonym of the word (regard) to express a negative sense of the above sentence.”

 

Rule: 2. An affirmative sentence consisting of “alone, only, merely, absolutely” can be negative one by using none but “if the above words modify person or being”, nothing but “if the above words qualify object or thing” and not more than or not less than “if the above words are used  before any figure or number”.

example

 

• Affirmative: Only God knows every thing all around the world.
• Negative: None but God knows everything all around the world.
• Affirmative: Only knowledge is power.
• Negative: Nothing but knowledge is power.
• Affirmative: Jerry was only 12 years old.
• Negative: Jerry was not more than/not less than 12 years old.

 

Rule: 3. If an affirmative idea is comprised of “must/have to” which mean “something mandatory can be changed in to negative statement by using “can not but” in place of those words. Such as,

• Affirmative: you must perform some duties for your mother land and countrymen.
• Negative: You can not but perform some duties for your mother land and countrymen.

 

Rule: 4. An affirmative speech containing “as ……. As” can be transformed in to negative sentence by replacing “not less ……….. than” instead of above mentioned words. For example:

• Affirmative: Della was as magi as Jim.
• Negative: Della was not less magi than Jim.

 

Rule: 5. “No sooner had ……. Than” will be replaced by “as soon as” to make a negative sense.

For instance:

• Affirmative: as soon as my examination was over,, I met my elder sister.
• no sooner had my examination been over than I met my elder sister.

 

Rule: 6. Sometimes if an affirmative sentence takes “both ….. and” or “and” to join couple of things bings or thought, then “not only …… but also” can be used to make such sentence negative without changing it’s meaning. Suppose:

• Affirmative: Both Bangladesh and India are the member of SAARC.
• Negative: Not only Bangladesh but also India are the member of SAARC.
• Affirmative: Water and air are being contaminated heavily as the modern world progresses.
• Negative: Not only water but also air are being contaminated heavily as the modern world progresses.

 

Rule: 7. If your affirmative sentence has “every” at the very beginning, then you need to place (there is no + but) “instead of every”. Or you can use (there is no + without” in some cases according to the meaning of the sentence. For example:

• Affirmative: Every human being cherishes a dream in his eyes.
• Negative: there is no human being but cherishes a dream in his eyes.
• Affirmative: Everyone has a struggling story beyond his or her triumph in the race of life.
• Negative: there is no one without a struggling story beyond his or her triumph in the race of life.

 

Rule: 8. In some contexts, only “not + opposite word” is required to to form a negative sense from a positive sense. Such as,

• Affirmative: I am your senior servant of the state.
• Negative: I am not your junior servant of the state.
• Affirmative: We feel bitting cold in December and January.
• Negative: We do not feel Scorching hot in December and January.

 

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