These questions ask you to preserve meaning while choosing a negative expression or a short agreement response. Check the number of negative elements, the verb that carries the negation, the polarity of the first statement, and the auxiliary needed in the reply.
Track meaning before choosing the form
Begin by deciding whether one clause is meant to express one negative fact. Words such as never, nobody and nothing already supply negation, as do hardly, scarcely and barely. Do not add another negative verb for that same meaning; use an any-series word where an indefinite is needed. For example, Ruth never misses any rehearsal, and We could barely see anything each contain one negative element.
| Meaning signal | Form to use |
|---|---|
| A neutral negative judgement with think, believe, suppose or expect | Normally negate the main verb and leave the following clause positive in form: I don't think the café is open. A negative following clause can be grammatical in another context, so use the stated neutral meaning as your guide. |
| A hoped-for outcome that contains a negative event | Keep hope positive and put the negation in the following clause: I hope the journey isn't delayed. Negating hope changes the meaning to an absence of hope. |
| Agreement with a positive statement | Use so plus auxiliary plus new subject, or a positive clause ending in too. Copy an existing auxiliary; use the suitable form of do when the first statement has a simple lexical verb. For example, So has Maya and Leo was too follow positive statements. |
| Agreement with a negative statement | Use neither or nor plus auxiliary plus new subject, or a negative clause ending in either. For example, Neither will Sam and Ravi hasn't either follow negative statements. |
For a response, use a quick sequence: label the first statement positive or negative, find its auxiliary and tense, then choose the matching response frame. So and neither place the auxiliary before the new subject. Too and either keep normal subject-before-auxiliary order because they come at the end of a clause.
Avoid these common traps
| Tempting form | How to reject it |
|---|---|
| A negative verb combined with never or nothing for one negative meaning | Count the negative elements in the clause. Keep one and use an any-series form when an indefinite is required. |
| Negating the wrong verb, as in I don't hope the parcel arrives, or dropping the auxiliary, as in I not think it will work | With hope, keep the negation in the following clause: I hope the parcel doesn't arrive late. And English requires the auxiliary: I don't think. After think, raising the negation (I don't think it will work) is the usual choice, while keeping it low (I think it won't work) is also grammatical, just less common. |
| So used after a negative statement, or neither used after a positive one | Choose the response marker from polarity first: so is positive, while neither and nor are negative. |
| Normal subject-first order immediately after so or neither | These response starters require inversion: marker, auxiliary, then the new subject. |
| Too attached to a negative clause, or either attached to a positive clause | End a positive agreement clause with too and a negative agreement clause with either. The auxiliary must preserve the same polarity. |
Try it
Ana can solve the wiring problem, and the speaker can solve it as well. Use So to complete the formal agreement response: "___."
A colleague says, "I haven't visited the new branch." The speaker has not visited it either. Use Neither to complete the formal agreement response: "___."
Milo enjoyed the workshop, and the speaker enjoyed it as well. Answer with the auxiliary only, then too. Use did + too to complete: "I ___."