1
AFFIRMATIVE, NEGATIVE, ASSERTIVE, EXCLAMATORY AND INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES:
1. Affirmative sentence:
An affirmative sentence is a sentence that affirms (rather than negates) a proposition.
Eg. He is honest.
2. Negative Sentence:
A negative sentence states something is not true or incorrect or presents some fact by using a negative
word (e.g. no, not). A negative sentence can be formed when words like “no”, “not”, “don’t” or
“doesn’t” is added to the sentence.
Eg. Dogs do not chase after rats.
Interchange of affirmative and negative sentences:
(i) By way of using negative word with opposite adjectives, an affirmative sentence could be
transformed into negative sentence.
Affirmative: Man is mortal.
Negative: Man is not immortal.
Affirmative: He is honest.
Negative: He is not dishonest.
Affirmative: Brutus loved Caesar.
Negative: Brutus did not hate Caesar.
Affirmative: Where there is fire, there is smoke.
Negative: There is no smoke without fire.
Affirmative: Everyone distrusts a liar.
Negative: No one trusts a liar.
(ii) By the way of changing degrees of comparison:
Affirmative: He is as good as I am.
Negative: I am not better than he is.
Affirmative: He is the best student.
Negative: No other student is as good as he.
Affirmative: As soon as the teacher arrived, the noise ceased.
Negative: No sooner did the teacher arrive than the noise ceased.
(iii) There are also other ways to change a affirmative sentence to a negative sentence:
Affirmative: Only the brave deserve the fair.
Negative: None but the brave deserves the fair.
Affirmative: He is too weak to walk.
Negative: He is so weak that he cannot walk.
