Meaning of not in English

not

adverb

/nɒt/ us

/nɑːt/

used to form a negative phrase after verbs like "be", "can", "have", "will", "must", etc., usually used in the short form "n't" in speech:

He's not fat!

I won't tell her.

I can't go.

Don't you like her?

It isn't hard (= it is easy).

I'm just not interested.

He's not bad-looking (= he is fairly attractive).

He's not as tall as his father.

used to give the next word or group of words a negative meaning:

I told you not to do that.

I like most vegetables but not cabbage.

"Come and play, Dad." "Not now, Jamie."

It was Yuko who said that, not Richard.

used after verbs like "be afraid", "hope", "suspect", etc. in short, negative replies:

"Is he coming with us?" "I hope not."

"Are you done?" "I'm afraid not."

if not

used to say what the situation will be if something does not happen:

I hope to see you there but, if not, I'll call you.

or not

used to express the possibility that something might not happen:

Are you going to reply or not?

I still don't know whether she's coming or not.

humorous

sometimes used at the end of a statement to show that you did not mean what you have said:

That was the best meal I've ever had - not!

More examples

Cheer up! It's not that bad!
She's not one of my close circle of friends.
Party unity is threatened when members will not compromise.
The TV won't work if the aerial's not connected.
It's not very dignified behaviour for a 54-year-old man.

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Yes, no & not

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Grammar

No or not?

No and not are the two most common words we use to indicate negation. We use no before a noun phrase: …

Not

Not is one of the most common words we use to indicate negation. It is often shortened to n’t and joined to an auxiliary verb or modal verb: …

Not in negative statements (She hasn’t …, I did not …)

We form negative declarative clauses with not after be (she is not talking), after modal verbs (they must not go) and after auxiliary verbs do and have (we did not like it; they have not eaten). …

Not and n’t in questions (Did younot …? Wasn’t she …?)

We use not or n’t to form negative questions: …

Don’t, Do not: orders and instructions

We use don’t + the base form of the verb or do + not + the base form of the verb to make negative imperatives. We use these to give orders, instructions or commands. Do not is stronger and much more formal: …

Not: short replies

We use not in negative short replies with mental process verbs (e.g. be afraid, guess, hope): …

Not: contrast

We often use not after but to express a contrast. We often leave out the verb phrase or part of it in the second clause: …

Not + -ing and not + to

We use not before an -ing clause in more formal styles: …

Or not

We can use or not in questions to ask about a range of possibilities: …

So and not with expect, hope, think, etc.

We can use so after some verbs instead of repeating an object clause, especially in short answers. The verbs we do this with most are: appear, assume, be afraid (meaning ‘regret’), believe, expect, guess, hope, imagine, presume, reckon, seem, suppose, think: …

Idioms

not all that
not at all
not be up to much
not that

(Definition of not from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

not | American Dictionary

not

adverb [ not gradable ]

/nɑt/

used to make a word or group of words negative, or to give a word or words an opposite meaning:

Her life was not happy.

If it’s not yours, whose is it?

He’s not bad-looking (= He is attractive).

She was not only an excellent teacher but (also) a brilliant researcher (= she was both these things).

Not that I mind (= I do not mind), but why didn’t you call yesterday?

not-too-distant

Not-too-distant refers to a time in the near future or recent past:

They plan to have children in the not-too-distant future.

Idioms

not a chance
not at all
not your day
not yourself
not to mention (someone/something)

(Definition of not from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of not

not

The group is not forced to maintain a formation during the motion.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

If f is not renormalisable, then f(c) < c or f(c) = c or f 4 (c) > f 3 (c).

From the Cambridge English Corpus

These examples are from the Cambridge English Corpus and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

More examples Fewer examples

To what extent, then, does this matter, or not?

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Two data points (37 and 96) are not shown.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

By not doing it you receive a profit.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

It does not show which party is more favoured in which region.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

But that's not the way the market read it.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

And the application of that is not to be ref used.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

I am not so sure that this is always the case.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Perrault did not wish to deny the authority of the orders.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

There is not much difference between the two.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

It does not matter where the aggression is.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Not everybody in every circumstance exists as male or female but everybody exists as a body.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In free and grounded layer s, this mode does not exist.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

It does not come before us in an unmediated purity.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all examples of not

Translations of not

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（用於 be，can，have，will，must 等動詞後構成否定表達，在口語中常簡略為n't）不, （用於否定其後的單詞或詞組）不，沒有, （用於 be afraid， hope， suspect 等動詞後構成簡略的否定回答）不，沒有…

（～では）ない, （返答で “be afraid” “hope” “suspect” 等の後につけて、”that” 節を繰り返さない否定文を作る）そうではないと思う…

yardımcı fiilleri olumsuz yapmak için kullanılır, kısa yazılışı 'n't', ...ma/me…

ne … pas, non, pas…

no, que no…

لا, لَيْس, لَيس…

ne…

ikke…

tidak…

ไม่, ถุกใช้กับกริยาที่แน่นอน อย่างเช่น hope, seem…

không…

nie…

bukan…

nicht…

ikke, dessverre…

-아니다, 부정적인 대답을 할때 쓰임…

não, que não…

（用于 be，can，have，will，must 等动词后构成否定表达，在口语中常简略为n't）不, （用于否定其后的单词或词组）不，没有, （用于 be afraid， hope， suspect 等动词后构成简略的否定回答）不，没有…

non, di no…

не, нет…

no, que no…

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What is the pronunciation of not?

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nostro account

nostrum

nosy

nosy parker

not

not (do something) for anything (in the world) idiom

not (too) bad idiom

not a bit of it idiom

not a chance idiom

Meaning of not in English

Grammar

Idioms

not | American Dictionary

Idioms

Examples of not

Translations of not

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