Unit 05: Negation and Parallel Structure – Chapter 1: Grammar Practice – Starter TOEIC – Third Edition – Building TOEIC Test-taking Skills – Anne Taylor – Casey Malarcher

🎯Target:

☑️ NO vs. NOT
☑️ Negation of an auxiliary verb & DO-support
☑️ Negation of non-finite verbs
☑️ Redundancy in negation
☑️ Parallelism between words and phrases

A. No vs. Not

1. “No” as an Adjective:
“No” is used to modify a noun, expressing the complete negation of that noun and is placed directly before the noun.
Formula: No + noun
Meaning: There is nothing, or that thing does not exist.
Examples: I have no time. → I don’t have any time.
There is no choice. → There is no option available.

2. “Not” as an Adverb:
“Not” is used to negate a verb, adjective, adverb, or an entire clause.
Formula:
👉 Not + verb
Example: She is not going. → She is not leaving.
👉 Not + adjective
Example: He is not busy. → He is not occupied.
👉 Not + adverb
Example: That is not likely. → That is not probable.
Note: “Not” cannot stand directly before a noun alone (unless accompanied by a modifier, such as “not a/an”).

B. Main and Auxiliary Verbs: Negation of an auxiliary verb & DO-support

✍️ Place “not” or “never” after an auxiliary verb:
Auxiliary verbs are verbs used to support the main verb. They include be, do, have, and modal verbs such as will, should, can, may, might, must, etc.
To make a negative sentence, simply place “not” or “never” directly after the auxiliary verb.
Formula: Auxiliary verb + not/never + main verb
Examples:
He will not arrive today. → He will not come today.
You should never eat there. → You should never dine there.

✍️ If there is no auxiliary verb, use “do-support” with “not”:
If there is no auxiliary verb in the sentence, add the helping verb do/does/did to form the negative. This process is called do-support (support with “do”).
Then place not directly after do/does/did.
Formula: Do/does/did + not + main verb
Examples:
She does not know him. → She doesn’t know him.
They do not live in Chicago. → They don’t reside in Chicago.
Note: “Do-support” is only used when there is no auxiliary verb in the sentence.

C. Negation of non-finite verbs

⏩ Non-finite verbs are forms of verbs that do not change according to the subject or tense. They include:
✔️ To-infinitives: The “to + base verb” form (e.g., to go, to eat).
✔️ Gerunds: The “-ing” form of the verb (e.g., taking, eating).
✔️ Participles: Verb forms used as adjectives or to create participle phrases. These include the present participle (-ing) and the past participle (-ed or irregular forms like written, broken).
⏩ To negate a non-finite verb, place the word “not” directly before it.
1. To-infinitives:
Formula: not + to + base verb
Meaning: Negates the action or purpose expressed by the to-infinitive.
Example: In order not to fail again, you should work harder. → To avoid failing again, you should work harder.
Here, “not to fail” negates the purpose of failing.
2. Gerunds:
Formula: not + verb-ing
Meaning: Negates the action being referred to.
Example: He prefers not taking the bus to work. → He prefers avoiding taking the bus to work.
Here, “not taking” negates the action of “taking the bus.”
3. Participles:
Formula: not + participle
Meaning: Negates the state or reason expressed by the participle.
Example: Not knowing what to do, he just stood still. → Lacking knowledge of what to do, he just stood still.
Here, “not knowing” negates the state of “knowing.”

D. Redundancy in Negation

1. Avoid using double negatives:
Double negatives occur when two negative words are used in the same sentence. This creates grammatical errors or confusion, as the two negatives cancel each other out, resulting in an affirmative meaning.
Correct approach: Use only one negative word in the sentence.
Examples:
She does not have no money. (Incorrect)
→ This is a double negative: “does not” and “no” are both negative.
She does not have any money. (Correct)
→ Use only one negative word, “not,” and replace “no” with “any” to convey the correct negative meaning.
Note: In standard English, there should only be one negative word in a sentence.

2. Do not use a negative word alongside words that already have a negative meaning:
Words like hardly, seldom, scarcely, lest, unless already carry a negative meaning. Adding another negative word (such as not) creates redundancy and grammatical errors.
Examples:
We could not hardly understand the situation. (Incorrect)
→ “Not” and “hardly” both imply negation, making the sentence a double negative.
We could hardly understand the situation. (Correct)
→ Use only “hardly” to express negation in a grammatically correct way.

💧Hardly /ˈhɑːrd.li/ Almost not; barely.
Hầu như không, gần như không
Thường được dùng để chỉ một điều gì đó xảy ra rất ít hoặc gần như không xảy ra
Example:
I can hardly hear you. → Tôi gần như không nghe được bạn nói.
She hardly ever goes out. → Cô ấy hầu như không bao giờ đi ra ngoài.

💧Seldom /ˈsel.dəm/ Rarely; not often.
Hiếm khi, ít khi.
Chỉ tần suất rất thấp của một hành động hoặc sự kiện.
Example:
He seldom visits his hometown.
→ Anh ấy hiếm khi về quê.
We seldom see such beautiful sunsets here.
→ Chúng tôi hiếm khi thấy cảnh hoàng hôn đẹp như vậy ở đây.

💧Scarcely /ˈsker.sli/ Almost not; barely or just
Hầu như không, vừa mới (xảy ra một việc gì đó và điều khác xảy ra ngay sau đó).
Thường chỉ điều gì đó xảy ra rất ít hoặc trong một thời gian rất ngắn.
Example:
She could scarcely believe her eyes.
→ Cô ấy hầu như không thể tin vào mắt mình.
We had scarcely arrived when it started raining.
→ Chúng tôi vừa mới tới thì trời bắt đầu mưa.

💧Lest /lest/ For fear that; to avoid the risk of something.
Để không, kẻo, vì sợ rằng.
Dùng trong văn phong trang trọng, thường diễn đạt một hành động nhằm tránh một kết quả xấu.
Example:
He left early lest he be late.
→ Anh ấy rời đi sớm để không bị trễ.
She worries lest she fail the exam.
→ Cô ấy lo lắng vì sợ rằng mình sẽ trượt kỳ thi.

💧Unless /ənˈles/ Except if; only if a condition is met.
Trừ khi, nếu không.
Dùng để đưa ra một điều kiện mà nếu không thỏa mãn, một điều khác sẽ không xảy ra.
Example:
I won’t go unless you come with me.
→ Tôi sẽ không đi trừ khi bạn đi cùng tôi.
You can’t succeed unless you work hard.
→ Bạn không thể thành công nếu không làm việc chăm chỉ.

E. Parallel Structure

Parallel structure is a grammatical rule requiring that words, phrases, or clauses in a sentence have the same grammatical form to ensure clarity and consistency.
1. Parallelism between two or more words
When listing multiple words, they must have the same grammatical form (e.g., all adjectives, nouns, or verbs).
Failing to maintain parallel structure can make the sentence grammatically incorrect or confusing.
Example:
He is handsome, honest, and has a lot of money. (Incorrect)
→ Here, “handsome” and “honest” are adjectives, but “has a lot of money” is a verb phrase, which breaks parallelism.
He is handsome, honest, and rich. (Corrected)
→ Replace “has a lot of money” with “rich” to match the adjective form of the other words.
2. Parallelism between two or more phrases
When using multiple phrases in a sentence (e.g., prepositional phrases, verb phrases), they should have the same structure.
You may answer the question either in English or Korean. (Incorrect)
→ Here, “in English” is a prepositional phrase, but “Korean” is just a noun, breaking the parallel structure.
You may answer the question either in English or in Korean. (Corrected)
→ Add “in” before “Korean” to ensure both phrases are parallel.