Negative adverbs

Grammar in English 

Negative Adverbs

When you use negative adverbs, the subject and the verb that the adverb is referring to need to switch positions in the sentence. Examples of negative adverbs are seldom, rarely, never, hardly, scarcely, little, among others.

Usual position: SUBJECT + ADVERB + VERB:

- I never work on weekends.

- She seldom did her homework.

- My father never does the dishes.

- My children have rarely taken a taxi.

Inverted position: ADVERB + AUXILIARY + SUBJECT + VERB:

- Never do I work on weekends.

- Seldom did she do her homework.

- Never does my father do the dishes.

- Rarely have my children taken a taxi.

In the example, we have the following elements:

- Negative adverb: Never

- Auxiliary: does

- Subject: she

- Verb: do

When we use simple present, the auxiliary could be do or does and the main verb should be in its simple base form (it should be do in our example).

Note that this does not work on other adverbs such as always, usually, or sometimes. This is also frequently used in a formal setting.

If you use other verb tenses, the inverted structure would be as follows:

1. Simple Past:

    - Usual position: She never did her homework on time.

    - Inverted position: Never did she do her homework on time.

2. Present Perfect:

    - Usual position: She has never done her homework on time.

    - Inverted position: Never has she done her homework on time.

3. Modals:

    - Usual position: She will never do her homework on time.

    - Inverted position: Never will she do her homework on time.

    - Usual position: She would never do her homework on time.

    - Inverted position: Never would she do her homework on time.

4. Past Perfect:

     - Usual position: She had never done her homework on time.

     - Inverted position: Never had she done her homework on time.

Then, what's the correct answer for our question above?

The answer is letter a), 'Never does she do'.

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