Home of English Grammar

Free Guide (Updated for 2022)

  • Home
  • Download Lessons
  • Grammar Rules
  • Online Exercises
  • Online Tools
    • Grammar Checker
    • Word Counter
  • Guides
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Verbs / Uses of anomalous finites

Uses of anomalous finites

September 2, 2010 - pdf

Anomalous finites are the only verbs in modern English which can form their negatives by the simple addition of not.

Compare:

  • He will come. He will not come.
  • He came. He did not come. (NOT He came not.)
  • Can I do it? No, you can’t.
  • Should I take it? No, you shouldn’t.
  • He took the medicine. He did not take the medicine. (NOT He took not the medicine.)

Anomalous finites are also the only verbs that can be used with the shortened form of not.

To form questions
A question is usually formed by putting the anomalous finite before the subject of the sentence.

  • He is a good singer. Is he a good singer?
  • They have won the race. Have they won the race?
  • The cat will kill the mouse. Will the cat kill the mouse?

If the affirmative sentence does not contain an anomalous finite, the auxiliary do and its forms are used to make questions.

  • He killed the spider. Did he kill the spider? (NOT Killed he the spider?)
  • They went to Beijing. Did they go to Beijing?
  • He fell off the ladder. Did he fall off the ladder?
  • They make good cheese. Do they make good cheese?
  • She likes ice cream. Does she like ice cream?

To form negative questions
The anomalous finites are also used to form negative questions.

He does not like it. Does he not like it? Doesn’t he like it?
They do not eat meat. Do they not eat meat? Don’t they eat meat?
She did not touch it. Did she not touch it? Didn’t she touch it?

Notes
The question ‘Does he not like it?’ is more formal than the question ‘Doesn’t he like it?’

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
1,127,749 
204,935 

Check Your Grammar

GrammarCheck.net - Try online
Hint → Bookmark GrammarCheck for future use.

Latest Exercises

  • Conjunctions Exercise July 2, 2022
  • Gap Filling Exercise June 29, 2022
  • General Grammar Exercise June 28, 2022
  • Will vs. Would June 26, 2022
  • See vs. Look vs. Watch June 23, 2022
  • General Grammar Exercise June 21, 2022
  • Tenses Gap Filling Exercise June 21, 2022
  • Gap Filling Exercise June 20, 2022
  • Subject Verb Agreement Exercise June 20, 2022

Topics

  • Adjectives
  • Adverbs
  • Business Writing
  • Commas
  • Conjunctions
  • Creative Writing
  • Difference
  • Essay Writing
  • Exercises
  • Learning
  • Lessons
  • Nouns
  • Prepositions
  • Pronouns
  • Proofreading
  • Punctuation
  • Quiz
  • Spelling
  • Style Guide
  • Teaching
  • Terms
  • Verbs
  • Words
  • Writing

Quiz

  • Can you correct these 14 basic grammar mistakes?
  • What kind of writer are you?

Copyright © 2022 · EnglishGrammar.org
Disclaimer · Privacy Policy · Sitemap