He hadn’t enough money.
I haven’t any papers to say that I have been trained.
If you use have got, you put not or -n’t after have, followed by got.
I haven’t got the latest figures.
He hasn’t got a daughter.
Have got is explained in paragraph 3.15.
position with -ing forms and to-infinitives
5.57 When not is used with an -ing form or a to-infinitive clause, it is placed in front of the -ing form or to-infinitive.
We stood there, not knowing what was expected of us.
He lost out by not taking a degree at another university.
Try not to worry.
It took a vast amount of patience not to strangle him.
with an inflected form and an -ing form or to-infinitive
5.58 When a clause contains an inflected verb and an -ing form or to-infinitive, you put not either with the inflected form or with the -ing form or to-infinitive, depending on the meaning you want to express.
For example, you can say either Mary tried not to smile or Mary did not try to smile, but they express different meanings. The first means that Mary tried to avoid smiling. The second means that Mary did not even try to smile.
However, with some verbs that are used with to-infinitives, the meaning is the same whether not is placed with the main verb or with the to-infinitive.
She did not appear to have done anything.
Henry appears not to appreciate my explanation.
It didn’t seem to bother them at all.
They seemed not to notice me.
Here is a list of verbs that are used with to-infinitives. With all of these, the meaning of the clause is the same, whether not is put in front of the verb or in front of the to-infinitive:
appear
expect
happen
intend
plan
seem
tend
want
wish
The use of two verbs in a clause to talk about two actions or states is dealt with in paragraphs 3.182 to 3.212.
Note that with some reporting verbs the meaning is the same whether you put not in front of the reporting verb or in front of the main verb. This is explained in paragraph 7.13.
contractions of not
5.59 In spoken English and in informal written English, not is often shortened to -n’t after be or have or after an auxiliary. -n’t is attached to the end of the verb.
Maria isn’t really my aunt at all.
He doesn’t believe in anything.
I haven’t heard from her recently.
Note that cannot is shortened to can’t, shall not is shortened to shan’t, and will not is shortened to won’t.
Here is a complete list of the shortened forms you can use:
aren’t
isn’t
wasn’t
weren’t
didn’t
doesn’t
don’t
hadn’t
hasn’t
haven’t
can’t
couldn’t
mightn’t
mustn’t
oughtn’t
shan’t
shouldn’t
won’t
wouldn’t
5.60 Note that if the verb is already shortened and added to its subject, you cannot shorten not to -n’t. This means, for example, that you can shorten she is not to she isn’t or she’s not, but not to she’sn’t.
It isn’t easy.
It’s not easy.
I haven’t had time.
I’ve not had time.
Note that you cannot add -n’t to am. You can only use I’m not as the shortened form.
I’m not excited.
The form aren’t I is used in questions.
In questions, not is usually shortened to -n’t and added to the first verb in the verb phrase.
Didn’t she win at the Olympics?
Hasn’t he put on weight?
Aren’t you bored?
However, in formal English, it is also possible to put not after the subject.
Did he not have brothers?
Was it not rather absurd?
other uses of not
5.61 You can also use not with almost any word or word group in a clause. For example, you can use it with nouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, and some quantity expressions such as a lot of. You usually do this in order to be more forceful, careful, polite, hesitant, and so on. The following paragraphs 5.63 and 5.64 describe some of these uses.
5.62 Very is often used after not to soften the negative meaning of a clause. This sounds more polite or hesitant than using not without very.
His attitude is not very logical.
It’s not very strong tea; it won’t stain.
He wasn’t a very good actor.
She shook her head, but not very convincingly.
You can use not with absolutely, altogether, entirely, or necessarily in a similar way. You do this in order to sound more polite or less critical.
Previous experience isn’t absolutely necessary, but it helps.
I was not altogether sure.
They are not entirely reliable.
Science is not necessarily hostile to human values.
You use not to show that the thing you are describing does in fact have some good qualities, although you do not want to make them sound better than they really are. This structure is often used with words that have a negative prefix such as un- or -less.