present simple negative statement – English Grammar Profiler

To make an active voice, simple present verb → negative, use this form:

  • do/does + not + [root form of verb]

The contracted form:

don’t or doesn’t

This grammar form can be used for negative:

habits, general truths, repeated actions, unchanging situations, emotions, wishes, instructions, directions, arrangements, etc.

Which main verbs are most common after ‘don’t’?

A search in iWeb for:

do n't _V

*Note that many of these may point to A2 negative imperative

1 DON’T HAVE (negative statement about an unchanging situation)

997662

We don’t have a car.

listen

2 DON’T KNOW 934031 3 DON’T WANT 596137 4 DON’T THINK 536688 5 DON’T NEED 285746 6 DON’T GET 249353 7 DON’T LIKE 209008 8 DON’T SEE 183171 9 DON’T FORGET 157903 10 DON’T BE 137793 11 DON’T WORRY 127811 12 DON’T CARE 104686 13 DON’T UNDERSTAND 101994 14 DON’T USE 99384 15 DON’T DO 96571 16 DON’T LET 89154 17 DON’T BELIEVE 86823 18 DON’T FEEL 85862 19 DON’T MIND 67347 20 DON’T GO 65108 21 DON’T MAKE 65000 22 DON’T TAKE 63057 23 DON’T MISS 61080 24 DON’T EXPECT 54866 25 DON’T GIVE 50543 26 DON’T REMEMBER 46330 27 DON’T WORK 44892 28 DON’T SEEM 44550 29 DON’T LOOK 35263 30 DON’T TRY 33945 31 DON’T MEAN 30578

32 DON’T HESITATE 28268 (offering)

*Note that many of these are most common as negative imperatives:

If there’s anything you need, don’t hesitate to call me.

listen

33 DON’T TELL 26551 34 DON’T COME 25571 35 DON’T BUY 25114 36 DON’T BOTHER 23504 37 DON’T ASK 23307 38 DON’T FIND 22582 39 DON’T PUT 22421 40 DON’T PAY 21227 41 DON’T SAY 21088 42 DON’T AGREE 20959 43 DON’T LEAVE 20644 44 DON’T REALIZE 19765 45 DON’T WASTE 19396 46 DON’T PLAY 18859 47 DON’T WAIT 17774 48 DON’T REQUIRE 17419 49 DON’T STOP 17088 50 DON’T EAT 16496 51 DON’T TRUST 16231 52 DON’T ALLOW 16155 53 DON’T OWN 15452 54 DON’T LIVE 15384

55 DON’T RECALL 15226

I don’t recall seeing your name on the guest list.

listen

56 DON’T RECOMMEND 14387 57 DON’T LOSE 14071 58 DON’T SHOW 14007 59 DON’T PLAN 13699 60 DON’T TALK 13487 61 DON’T RUN 13041 62 DON’T CHANGE 12849 63 DON’T WAN 12677 64 DON’T FIT 12488 65 DON’T BLAME 12465 66 DON’T HOLD 11842 67 DON’T HEAR 11486 68 DON’T COUNT 11445 69 DON’T KEEP 11307 70 DON’T FALL 11225 71 DON’T EXIST 11008 72 DON’T START 10793 73 DON’T CONSIDER 10723 74 DON’T SPEND 10709 75 DON’T CALL 10273 76 DON’T FOLLOW 10123 77 DON’T OFFER 10038 78 DON’T READ 9874 79 DON’T DRINK 9864 80 DON’T WEAR 9848 81 DON’T LOVE 9555

82 DON’T PANIC 9377 (imperative)

Don’t panic, but I saw a guy out front.

listen

83 DON’T END 9254 84 DON’T ADD 8937 85 DON’T SPEAK 8910 86 DON’T SELL 8846

87 DON’T ASSUME 8766

88 DON’T SUPPORT 8721 89 DON’T MATTER 8658 90 DON’T MOVE 8502 91 DON’T INCLUDE 8362 92 DON’T LISTEN 8226 93 DON’T NOTICE 8195 94 DON’T TOUCH 8187 95 DON’T PROVIDE 7620 96 DON’T APPEAR 7600 97 DON’T APPLY 7330 98 DON’T DESERVE 7228 99 DON’T TURN 7122

100 DON’T MATCH 7039

Half the vocabulary is obviously A1.

Here are a few B2 lexical verbs that stand out:

assume, hesitate, panic, recall

Here are the most common collocates of “doesn’t” in the MOVIE corpus:

We had AI write sentences with them:

  1. She doesn’t live here anymore.
  2. It doesn’t matter to me.
  3. This doesn’t mean that I don’t care.
  4. I don’t make mistakes often.
  5. There isn’t any sugar left in the jar.
  6. This method doesn’t work for me.
  7. He doesn’t even know my name.
  8. She doesn’t want anything for her birthday.
  9. It doesn’t seem like a good idea.
  10. This doesn’t make sense to me.
  11. Your voice doesn’t sound familiar.
  12. That species doesn’t exist anymore.
  13. He doesn’t live here anymore.
  14. That doesn’t usually happen to me.
  15. It doesn’t hurt when I walk.
  16. Noise doesn’t bother me when I’m working.
  17. Your opinion doesn’t count in this matter.
  18. There is no difference between the two products.
  19. This book doesn’t belong to me.
  20. The shirt doesn’t fit me well.