1) 最常见的是不用 not 而用其他否定词如 no, nothing, never, nowhere, nobody, no one, none, no longer 等。

• No dogs are allowed. (= Dogs are not allowed.)不得携狗入内。
• She could see no hope ahead. (= She could not see any hope ahead.)她眼前看不到有希望。
• There's nothing you can do about it. (=You cannot do anything about it.)对此毫无办法。
• It's never happened yet. (= It hasn't happened at any time yet.)这样的事从来没有发生过。
• Nowhere else will you find such beautiful scenery. (= You won't find such beautiful scenery anywhere else.)你在任何别的地方都不会看到这样美丽的景色。
• I can no longer stand it.我再也容忍不了。
• No way they'll let their union members be treated like this.他们决不会让自己的工会会员受到这样的对待的。

有时候 no way 开始的句子中主谓语颠倒。

• No way is it the right time for him to come back.他这个时候回来根本不合适。

有时候 no longer 这类的否定词可以放在句末，要一直看到这里才知道是否定（中文倾向于尽早出现否定）。

• He could silence himself no longer.他再也不能沉默了。
• To her he was only the man who made himself agreeable nowhere ... (Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter Six)她只觉得达西是个到处不讨人喜欢的男人…

有时候用这些否定词放在句末只能否定该词本身，否定不了整句。

• I was starting from nothing. 我当时是白手起家（不等于 I was not starting from anything）。
• The car just appeared from nowhere. 那辆车子突如其来地出现（不等于 The car didn't appeared from anywhere）。

2) 往往可以用 do nothing to inf. 来代替简单的 do not inf.。

• The fact that I wrote a 30-page critical analysis of the function of shame in society did nothing to (= did not) ease the sting when I spilled beer on a customer at the bowling alley.(Newsweek, Nov. 13, 2006, p.21)我尽管写过长达三十页的批判分析，探讨羞耻感在社会上的作用，但这丝毫无助于减轻我在保龄球场把啤酒洒在顾客身上时心里的难过。

有时候可以用 little 代替 nothing，语气稍为缓和一些。

• It was a thirst they could do little to satisfy.那种渴望，是他们所不容易满足的。

3) 对一个动词加以否定，可以用 fail to inf.，但这个用法带有一点“该做而没有做”或“该发生而没有发生”的意思，有时候还可能保持“想做某事但没有做成”的意思，参见 fail 条。

4) 对一个动词加以否定，还可以用 abstain from doing 或 refrain from doing 的办法，但这个用法带有一点“自己注意克制因而没有做”的意思。

• He abstained from eating for six days.他六天戒食。
• I refrained from criticizing him.我忍住没有批评他。

5) 用 have yet to inf. 可以表示“该做但尚未做，但是稍后会做”。

• Investigators have yet to find or arrest anyone in connection with those explosions.调查人员尚未发现或拘捕任何同这些爆炸案有牵连的人。
• The full effect has yet to be felt.全部效果尚未感觉到。
• A just society has yet to be established.一个公正的社会尚有待建立起来。

6) 有一些动词，本身就带有否定的意义，常常可以用来表示中文的“不”或“没有”。

• The windows were coated with dark plastic, which denied the casual onlooker the sight of the people inside.车窗上贴着暗色的塑料膜，不让偶然的旁观者看见车子里面的人。
• One consequence of the failure to reach a sweeping agreement at Reykjavik was that Gorbachev, denied a clear foreign policy triumph, turned more of his energies and his impatience back toward domestic policy. (New York Review of Books, Nov. 4, 2004, p.29)在雷克雅维克未能达成全面协议，其后果之一，是戈尔巴乔夫既然在对外政策上得不到明显的胜利，于是就把自己更多的精力和急于求成的愿望转而放回到国内政策上面来。
• Cracks in the dam so far defied all efforts at repair.水坝上的裂痕，至今一直无法修补。
• The full significance of the deal seems to have escaped him at the time.这笔交易的全部意义，看来当时他并没有认识到。
• The man had the muddy remains of what had once been red hair, but was now sprinkled with enough gray to defy an accurate description. (Tom Clancy, Clear and Present Danger, p.95)这个人过去是一头红头发，现在剩下的却是泥桨似的，掺上许多灰色，所以说不清是什么颜色了。
• Thus many disable New Yorkers are effectively barred from returning to work...(The Daily Gazette, Schenectady, New York, Jan. 18, 2001, Editorial)这样，许多残障的纽约人实际上就被挡住，无法恢复工作…
• Fear of "knowing the truth" keeps many people from getting the treatment they need. (Reader's Digest, June 2001, p.116)许多人由于害怕“知道真相”，得不到本来需要得到的治疗。
• High interest rates, a shortage of capital, drought in 2004 and intense competition have kept Bouwland Vineyard from earning any profits. (Newsweek, Nov. 7, 2005, p.63)由于利率高，资金又短缺，2004 年又大旱，竞争又激烈，所以宝兰葡萄园毫无获利。
• He is out to stop James Hormel, a philanthropist, from serving as ambassador to Luxembourg. (The Daily Gazette, Schenectady, New York, June 12, 1999, B12)他决心要阻止慈善家詹姆士·霍梅尔担任驻卢森堡大使。
• ... her face fell just short of being beautiful...…她的脸称不上漂亮…

7) 有时候也可以用 wish 加上虚拟语气来表示婉转的否定。

• I wish I could share you optimism.您看得这样乐观，我不敢苟同。

8) 少数动词可以前面加 ill，表示否定（通常都是表示不如意）。

• It ill becomes/ill befits you to criticize.由你来批评是不合适的。
• I can ill afford to buy a new car.我买不起一辆新车。

9) too... to inf. 或 too... for... 后半截都有否定的意思，参见 too 条。此外，有时候没有 too 也可以表示否定。

• 25 is pretty old to take up ballet dancing.二十五岁，就年纪太大，不宜开始学芭蕾舞了。
• He's enough of a coward to do that.他是个胆小鬼，不敢干那个的。

10) beyond, above, past 常常可以用来表示否定。

• It is certain beyond doubt that...毫无疑问可以肯定的是…
• I'm grateful beyond words.我感激得无法用言语来表达。
• I thought I was beyond being shocked by the hypocrisy of the Bush administration, but it's really outdone itself this time. (Newsweek, May 17, 2004, p.17)我本来以为，对于布什政府的伪善，我已经不感震惊了，但是这一次它做得出格了。
• Though he knew that they called him something else among themselves, he was past caring what little people thought of him.尽管他也知道他们自己当中对他另有称呼，但是他对一些小人物如何看待他并不在乎。

11) 动词的被动式，有时候否定时可以用 un- 加过去分词表示，参见 un- 条。

12) out of 也可以用来表示否定。

• out of breath上气不接下气
• out of step with reality同现实脱节
• out of practice生疏
• I've been out of teaching for two years.我已经有两年没有教课了。
• To retreat was out of the question.退却是根本不可能的。

13) 形容词 last 也可以表示否定，参见 last 条。

14) 连词短语 instead of, rather than, short of 等，都可以表示否定。分别见这几个条目。

15) before 引入的从句，有时候是要避免发生或是没有发生的事。因此 before 有时可以有否定意义。参见 before 条。

16) 常常可以借用比较的形式来表示否定。上位比较，用于表示“不单止”、“超出…之外”。

• That bluff worked on Rémy. Not on me. I know you better than that.(Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, p.423)你这一套空城计骗得过雷米。但是骗不过我。我看透了你，不会上当的。
• I should have known better than to believe in free wishes.我本来应该懂事，不应该相信那些空洞的愿望。
• Although his female colleagues insisted the gray only accentuated his bookish appeal, Langdon knew better. (Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, p.8)尽管朗顿的女同事们口口声声说，灰色只会加重他那副书呆子外表，但是他没听她们的。
• She knew better than to interrupt him a second time.她懂得最好别再一次打断他的话，也就没有这样做了。
• To add a divorce to all that was more than I could handle at the time.有了这一大堆事，还要加上离婚，那是我当时应付不过来的。
• It is more than I engage for, I assure you. (Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, p.2)老实跟你说吧，这不是我分内的事。
• You need to do more than sing "I'm Proud to Be an American" to keep this country free. (The Daily Gazette, Schenectady, New York, June 3, 2003)要保持这个国家的自由，你光是唱“我以做一个美国人为荣”是不够的。
• More blood is needed in hospitals than donors can supply. 医院需要的血浆太多，输血者供应不过来（不说 Donors cannot supply enough blood needed in hospitals）。

下位比较，常用于表示“达不到那程度”。

• But the CIA was less than helpful.但是中央情报局没起多大作用。

也可以用反义的比较级形容词来表示否定。

• I read your novels and expected to meet an older man.我看过了你写的小说，没想到现在看见你原来这么年轻。

17) to know better than to inf. 实际上是一种否定方式，意思是“懂得不应该做某事，也就没有去做”。

• He knew better than to think the assailant had given up.他心中有数，知道刺客并没有罢休。
• to think the better of it也是一种否定方式，意思是“经过考虑后觉得还是不这样做为妥（从而也就没有这样做）”。

18) 有一些形容词，本身就有否定意义，其中 free 有正面意义，devoid 则有负面意义。

• products free from defects in materials and workmanship用料和工艺都没有缺点的产品
• a speech devoid of content一篇空空洞洞的讲演词
• a man devoid of any moral principle一个没有任何道义原则的人
• an explanation devoid of logic一次缺乏逻辑性的解释。

19) 许多时候，对一个作为表语的形容词加以否定，可以有多种办法。

20) 最后，中文的一些否定用法，尤其是在一些祈使句中，到了英文可以转换为肯定，更为符合英文的习惯。

• Mind your own business. (*Don't mind other people's business.)别多管闲事。
• Keep off the grass. (*Don't tread on the grass.)请勿践踏草地。
• Remember what I said. (*Don't forget what I said.)我说的话你别忘了。
• Leave him alone. (*Don't pay attention to him.)别管他。
• Wet paint. (*Paint not dry yet.)油漆未干。
• Staff only. (*No admittance to non-staff.)非工作人员请勿入内。
• a song to remember (*a song hard to forget)一曲难忘。