Positive Negative and Interrogative Sentence

I. CONTENTS

A. Definition

A positive sentence tells you about something that exists or something that is happening.
Negative sentences tell you that something does not exist or is not happening.
Negative sentence divided to two parts:
Sentences with `not'
Negative words (Not, nobody, neither, never, no one, nor, no, nothing none)
You do not normally use two negative words in the same clause.
Example: She never goes abroad.
He has given no reason for his decision.
Nobody in her house knows any English.
Interrogative sentence is a type of sentence which usually asks a question and use question mark (?). They may ask
for information or for confirmation or denial of a statement.

B. Formula for 16 Tenses












Here the formula of positive, negative, and interrogative sentence for each
tenses:
1. The Simple Present Tense
a. Verbal sentence

Positive Interrogative Negative
He
She
It
works Does
he
she
it
work?
He
She
it
does not
(doesn't)
work.
I
You
We
They
work

Do

I
you
we
they
work?

I
You
We
They
do not
(don't)

work.


Positive Interrogative Negative
He is
She is
It is
there

is
he
she
it
there?
He
She
it
is not
(isn't)
there
I am
You are
We are
They are
am

are
I
you
we
they
there?

I
You
We
They
am not

are not

there










2. The Present Continuous Tense

Positive Interrogative
I am I'm
Working
Am I
working?
He
She is
It
He's
She's
It's
Is
he
she
it
We
You are
They
We're
You're
They're
Are
we
you
they









3. The Simple Past Tense
a. Positive: regular verbs
Regular verbs have the same form for all persons (I, you, he, she, etc.):
Subject Infinitive + ed
I
He
She
It We
You
They
Stayed


Negative with not Negative with nt
I am I'm
not working
I

working?
He
She is
It
He's
She's
It's
he
she
it
isnt
We
You are
They
We're
You're
They're
we
you
they
arent
b. positive - irregular verbs
Irregular verbs have the same form for all persons (I, you, he, she, etc)
Irregular verbs are irregular in the past simple in the positive only (not in the
negative or question form):
go went She went home yesterday,
sit sat I sat down,
write -- wrote She wrote for hours.

Subject Simple past
I
He
She
It
We
You
They
went

The past simple question form is the same for all persons (I, you, he, she,
etc.) and all verbs:


Did Subject Infinitive
Did
I
he
she
it we
you
they
leave?
go?
stay?


The past simple negative form is the same for all persons and all verbs:

Subject Did not Infinitive
I
he
she
it we
you
they
did not
didn't
leave
go
stay

4. The Past Continuous Tense

Positive Interrogative Negative
I
He
She
It
was
working
was
I
he
she
it
working?
I
He
She
it
was not
(wasn't)
working
You
We
They
were

were

you
we
they
working?

You
We
They
were not
(weren't)

working












5. The Present Perfect Tense
has/have + past participle

Positive Interrogative Negative
I
You
We
They
Have
(ve)
finished
Have
he
she
it
finished
I
You
We
They
Have not
(haven't)
Finished
He
She
It
Has
(s)
Has

I
you
we
they
He
She
It
Has not
(hasn't)

Finished


6. The Present Perfect Continuous
has/have + been + verb-ing

Positive Interrogative Negative
I
You
We
They
Have
(ve)
been
waiting
Have
he
she
it
been
waiting?
I
You
We
They
Have not
(haven't)
been
waiting?

He
She
It
Has
(s)
Has

I
you
we
they
He
She
It
Has not
(hasn't)







7. The Past Perfect Tense

Positive Interrogative Negative
I
You
We
They had worked Had
I
You
We
They worked
I
You
We
They
Had not
(hadnt)
worked
He
She
It
He
She
It
He
She
It
8. The Past Perfect Continuous

Positive Interrogative Negative
I
You
We
They
Had
been
waiting
Had

he
she
it
been
waiting?
I
You
We
They

Had not
(hadn't)


been
waiting

He
She
It
I
you
we
they
He
She
It










9. The Present Future Tense
a. going to
going to is often used to indicate a future plan that has been made before the time of speaking.
I'm going to see Pat tomorrow - we arranged it this morning.
Positive Interrogative Negative
I
am
(m)
going to
pay
am
(m)
I
going to
pay?
I
am
(m)
going to
pay
You
We
They
are are
You
We
They
You
We
They
are
He
She
It
is
(s)
is
(s)
He
She
It
He
She
It
is
(s)

b. will
Will is often used to indicate a sudden decision, made at the time of speaking:
How can we get to the airport? I know! I'll borrow Sue's car!

Positive Interrogative Negative
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
will stay
Will/shall
I
We

stay
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
will not
(wont)
stay
will
They
You
He
She
It




10. Present Future Continuous Tense

Positive Interrogative Negative
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
will
be
living
Will/shall
I
We
be
living?
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
will not
(wont)
be
living
will
They
You
He
She
It

11. The Past Future Tense

Positive Interrogative Negative
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
would go
Would/
should
I
We
go
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
would not
(wouldnt)
go
would
They
You
He
She
It










12. The Past Future Continuous Tense

Positive Interrogative Negative
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
would
be
living
Would/
should
I
We
be
living?
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
would not
(wouldnt)
be
living
would
They
You
He
She
It

13. The Present Future Perfect Tense

Positive Interrogative Negative
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
will
have
eaten
Will/
Shall
I
We
have
eaten?
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
will not
(wont)
have
eaten
Will
They
You
He
She
It










14. The Present Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Positive Interrogative Negative
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
will
have been
studying
Will/
Shall
I
We
have
been
studying
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
will not
(wont)
have
been
studying will
They
You
He
She
It

15. The Past Future Perfect Tense

Positive Interrogative Negative
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
would
have
eaten
Will/
shall
I
We
have
eaten?
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
would not
(wont)
have
eaten
will
They
You
He
She
It










16. The Past Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Positive Interrogative Negative
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
would
have
been
eating
Would/
should
I
We
have
been
eating?
I
You
We
They
He
She
It
would not
(wont)
have
been
eating would
They
You
He
She
It

II. CONCLUSION

Sentence can be divided to positive sentence, negative sentence and interrogative sentence. A positive sentence tells you
about something that exists or that is happening. Negative sentences tell you that something does not exist or is not
happening. Negative sentence divided to two parts:
Sentences with `not'
2. Negative words
Sentence with not used in 16 tenses, that are the simple present tense, the present continuous tense, the
simple past tense, the past continuous tense, the present perfect tense, the present perfect continuous tense, the past
perfect tense, the past perfect continuous tense, the present future tense, the present future continuous tense, the past
future tense, the past future continuous tense, the present future perfect tense, the present future perfect continuous
tense, the past future perfect tense, and the past future perfect continuous tense. Negative words contains Not, nobody,
neither, never, no one, nor, no, nothing none
Interrogative sentence is a type of sentence which usually asks a question and use question mark (?). They may ask for
information or for confirmation or denial of a statement.








III. EXERCISES

A. Rewrite each sentence as a positive or negative sentence, or a question, according to the instructions!
Example: I visit my parents very often. (negative)
Answer: / don't visit my parents very often.

1. Does he come from Germany? (positive)
Answer: .................................................
2. She gets up at five o'clock. (interrogative)
Answer: .................................................
3. I was making a cake (negative)
Answer: .................................................
4. 'Did she see the accident?' (positive)
Answer: .................................................
5. John has been staying there (interrogative)
Answer: .................................................
Have you finished painting the house? (positive)
Answer: .................................................
'Did you leave the hotel last night?' (negative)
Answer: .................................................
Toni will open the door for her. (interrogative)
Answer: .................................................
She will be sleeping when they arrive. (interrogative)
Answer: .................................................
Had Jesicca been studying for two hours? (negative)

B. Rewrite each sentence as interrogative sentence
Example: George is a student
Answer: Is George a student?
It is raining again.
Answer: .................................................
She can speak Japanese.
Answer: .................................................
Margaret is at home
Answer: .................................................
My mom works in an office.
Answer: .................................................
The teacher told the children a story.
Answer: .................................................
Philip has got a new bike.
Answer: .................................................
She is Sumikos best friend.
Answer: .................................................
Tom could sit with David.
Answer: .................................................
Dad will help Jennifer with her homework.
Answer: .................................................
We will be late.
Answer: .................................................

REFERENCES


Johan H.F and Anne Juwita. 2010. Smart Way to TOEFL. Jakarta: Generasi Cerdas.
Sargeant, Howard. 2007. Basic English Grammar. United States: Saddleback Educational Publishing
Schrampfer , Betty. 1993. Understanding and Using English Grammar: Prentice Hall
Walker, Elaine. 2000. New Grammar Practice. England: Pearson Education Limited.