1.4 Andrés's mother doesn't like cooking(3rd person negative)

Reflexiona

Paco knows his own likes, hobbies and interests well but he doesn't really know what to do with this huge amount of money.

One of the previous sentences is positive and the other one negative. Remember that in the Present Simple Tense we form the negative by means of the auxiliary verb DO, whose third person singular is DOES (do + es) and that the structure is:

Subject Auxiliary
NOT

Verb (Bare infinitive)

(Indirect Object)
(Direct Object)
My friend (He/She) DOES NOT read   any books.
Her sister (She) DOES NOT send me any letters.

Ejercicio Resuelto

Paco's best friend: Andrés

Imagen de Jim Gourley en Flickr.

Licencia CC.

Here you have some information about one of Paco's best friends, Andrés and his family:

  1. Andrés likes going to the cinema on Saturdays.
  2. He studies English at university.
  3. Andrés's sister washes his car every weekend.
  4. She loves going out with her friends.
  5. Andrés's mother cooks really well.
  6. She can spend the whole day cooking.

Change all the information provided about Andrés by writing the sentences in the negative.

Importante

The auxiliary verb DO is not used to form the negative forms of modal verbs or other auxiliary verbs such as to be. So, we say

Paco doesn't like watching all sports on TV,

  • but
He isn't good at Mathematics (to be)
  • or
He can't swim very well (modal verb)

Reflexiona

Listen to this song by Mariah Carey paying special attention to negative sentences and to the third person singular.

Vídeo de MariahCareyVEVO  alojado en Youtube

Did you notice?

"No, I can't forget this evening" (negative sentence with a modal verb: can't).

"That's just the way the story goes" (third person singular: That's; third person singular: the story goes).

"In your eyes your sorrow shows" (third person singular: your sorrow shows).

"No, I can't forget tomorrow" (negative sentence with a modal verb: can't).

"I can't live if living is without you" (negative sentence with a modal verb: can't; third person singular: living is).

Comprueba lo aprendido

Pregunta

Which is the correct negative form of the following sentences?

1. The story goes this way.

Respuestas

The story not goes this way.

The story does not go this way.

The story do not go this way.

Retroalimentación

Pregunta

2. Paco's mother is also a good cook.

Respuestas

Paco's mother is not a good cook, either.

Paco's mother does not be a good cook, either.

Paco's mother not is a good cook, either.

Retroalimentación

Pregunta

3. Andrés loves his mother's meals.

Respuestas

Andrés do not love his mother's meals.

Andrés not loves his mother's meals.

Andrés does not love his mother's meals.

Andrés does not loves his mother's meals

Retroalimentación

Pregunta

4. Paco can spend the whole day doing sports.

Respuestas

Paco cannot spend the whole day doing sports.

Paco does not can spend the whole day doing sports.

Paco not can spend the whole day doing sports.

Retroalimentación

Para saber más

The best way to improve the structure of English negative sentences is by doing lots of exercises.

Frequently, we say how often we do actions in the Present Simple tense. One of the main ways we have to say that in English is by means of adverbs of frequency. This is what we are going to study next.