Diagramming Negations

Negations in English sentences normally involve the use of auxiliary verbs, and bridging is often required in the diagramming because the verb is separated from its auxiliaries by the negating word (usually, the word not).

For the treatment in this diagram of does . . . know and has been working,  see the discussion of diagramming verbs with auxiliaries.  The negating word not is treated here as a modifier of the predicate (does know, plus its complement).

With negative imperatives, the negating word can modify the whole construction (which normally consists of a verb with its complements and modifiers, since the "understood" subject you is normally omitted in imperative sentences).

For the treatment of the infinitive to do, see the discussion of verbs with auxiliaries.

Sometimes, it can be tricky deciding exactly how much of a construction is negated.  Here are a couple of sentences in which a comma makes an important difference in the meaning by indicating the structure of modification--indicating, that is, how much of the construction the not modifies.

In this sentence with the comma, a reader is meant to infer that the speaker did not attend the party in question, and that gin was not served at the party.   That is, the reason that the speaker did not attend the party was that the speaker's favorite beverage was not available there.  The comma indicates that meaning by indicating that the because-clause is movable--that is, the clause modifies the whole predication I did not go to the party by giving a reason why the predication is true.  Another way to put this is to say that the not modifies only the predicate of the main clause, and the subordinate clause modifies the whole main clause.

Contrast the preceding sentence with the following sentence, which has no comma.

Here, a reader is meant to infer that the speaker did attend the party, and that gin was served there.  The sentence means to indicate that the availability of gin was not the reason that the speaker attended the party, even though the speaker does like gin.  Another way to put this is to say that the subordinate clause (the because-clause)   modifies  only the predicate of the main clause, and the not modifies the predicate of the main clause with all of its modifiers (including the because-clause).

Dealing with the contractions that are often involved in negations requires dividing constructions written as individual words.

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