not

not is on the Basic English 850 List.

nose - not - note

not is one of the 1000 most common headwords.

north - not - note

See also -n't

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA ^(key): /nɒt/, SAMPA: /nQt/
• (US) IPA ^(key): /nɑt/, SAMPA: /nAt/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

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• Homophones: knot, naught, nought

Adverb

Positive not

Comparative none

Superlative none

1. "Not" makes a phrase have the opposite meaning.

   I was not there.

   I am not fat!

2. The item before "not" is more correct or better than the item after "not".

   I wanted tea, not coffee!

   Meaning: I wanted tea. I did not want coffee.

   It's stupid, not funny.

   Meaning: It is stupid. It is not funny.

Interjection

Interjection not!

1. Used to indicate the sentence before is sarcastic or ironic. This means that the sentence has the opposite meaning.

   I like doing lots of boring homework. Not!

   Meaning: I do not like doing lots of boring homework.

Related words

Words ending in -n't are short ways of writing not after some words. For example, didn't means did not.

ain't, aren't, can't, doesn't, don't, didn't, hadn't, hasn't, haven't, isn't, mightn't, needn't, shan't, shouldn't, wasn't, won't, wouldn't.

cannot, have-not

Some other words used to for negation are:

never, neither, no, & nor