So you want to be an actress, do you?
So they’re moving house again, are they?
Rhetorical questions can also begin with how. They usually express a feeling of shock or indignation. For example, instead of saying You are very cruel, someone might say How can you be so cruel?
How can you say such things?
How dare you speak to me like that?
Rhetorical questions are dealt with fully in paragraph 9.94.
questions without a verb
5.45 You can ask a question consisting of what about or what of in front of a noun phrase, without a verb. You ask a question like this to remind someone of something, or to draw their attention to something. With this type of question, you often expect an action, rather than a reply.
What about the others on the list?
What about your breakfast?
But what of the women themselves?
suggestions
5.46 There are several ways in which you can make a suggestion:
We could have tea.
You could get someone to dress up as a pirate.
Why don’t we just give them what they want?
Why don’t you write to her yourself?
What about becoming an actor?
How about using makeup to dramatize your features?
‘Give them a reward each,’ I suggested.
You can also make a suggestion about what you and someone else might do by using let’s. This use is explained in paragraph 5.39.
Forming negative statements
5.47 When you want to say that something is not true, is not happening, or is not the case, you normally use a negative statement. Negative statements contain words like not, never, or nowhere. These are called negative words.
Here is the list of negative words in English:
neither
never
no
nobody
none
no one
nor
not
nothing
nowhere
Negative words indicate the opposite of something or an absence of something.
5.48 Another group of words such as scarcely and seldom can be used to make a statement almost negative. These words are called broad negatives. They are explained in paragraphs 5.80 to 5.87.
5.49 If a statement about the existence of something has a negative word in it, you use any (not no) as a determiner in front of the following noun phrase. You can also use a word beginning with any- such as anyone or anywhere.
We didn’t have any money.
He writes poetry and never shows it to anyone.
It is impossible to park the car anywhere.
For another use of any see paragraph 2.163.
5.50 In standard English, it is almost always unacceptable to use two negative words in the same clause. For example, you do not say, I don’t never go there, or I don’t know nothing.
5.51 The use of negatives in reported speech is explained in paragraph 7.13. The use of negatives with modals is explained in paragraph 5.102.
not
5.52 The most commonly used negative word is not. Its use with different verbs corresponds to the way these verbs are used in yes/no-questions (see paragraphs 5.12 to 5.14).
position in verb phrases
5.53 When not is used with a verb phrase that contains an auxiliary verb, it comes after the first verb in the phrase.
They could not exist in their present form.
They might not even notice.
The White House has not commented on the report.
He had not attended many meetings.
I was not smiling.
Her teachers were not impressed with her excuses.
adding do
5.54 If there is no auxiliary verb, you put do, does, or did after the subject, followed by not or -n’t, followed by the base form of the main verb.
They do not need to talk.
He does not speak English very well.
I didn’t know that.
Be and have are exceptions to this; this is explained in the following paragraphs 5.55 and 5.56. The shortening of not to -n’t is explained in paragraphs 5.59 and 5.60.
not with be
5.55 If the verb is be, you do not use do. You simply put not or -n’t after the verb.
It is not difficult to see why they were unsuccessful.
There is not much point in heading south.
This isn’t my first choice of restaurant.
not with have and have got
5.56 If the verb is have, you usually put do, does, or did after the subject, followed by not or -n’t, followed by the base form have.
The organization does not have a good track record.
He didn’t have a very grand salary.