{{see|Not|NOT|nöt}}

English

{{rank|as|had|you|18|not|be|at|by}}

Pronunciation

• • IPA: /nɒt/,
  • An audio transcript can be found at en-uk-not.ogg
• • IPA: /nɑt/,
  • An audio transcript can be found at en-us-not.ogg

Homophones

• knot
• naught (some dialects)

Etymology

Middle English, compare nought

Adverb

not

1. Negates the meaning of the modified verb.
2. : I may be many things, but I am not a crook.
3. : Did you take out the trash? No, I did not.
4. : Not knowing any better, I went ahead.

Usage notes

In modern usage, the form do not ... (or don’t ...) is preferred to ... not for all but a short list of verbs (is/am/are/was/were, have/has/had, do/does/did, can/could, shall/should, will/would, may/might, need):

• They do not sow. (modern) vs. They sow not. (KJB)

American usage tends to prefer don’t have or haven’t got to have not or haven’t, except when have is used as an auxiliary (or in the idiom have-not):

• I don’t have a clue or I haven’t got a clue. (US)
• I haven’t a clue or I haven't got a clue. (outside US)
• I haven’t been to Spain. (universal)

The verb need is only directly negated when used as an auxiliary, and even this usage is rare in the US.

• You don’t need to trouble yourself. (US)
• You needn’t trouble yourself. (outside US)
• I don’t need any eggs today. (universal)

The verb dare can sometimes be directly negated.

• I daren't do that.

Related terms

• ain't
• aren't
• can't
• cannot
• daren't
• doesn't
• don't
• didn't
• forget-me-not

• hadn't
• hasn't
• have-not
• haven't
• isn't
• mightn't
• needn't
• neither
• no
• nor

• not bad
• not guilty
• not quite
• not think
• notwithstanding
• shan't
• shouldn't
• wasn't
• won't
• wouldn't

Translations

• Albanian: {{t-|sq|nuk|xs=Albanian}}
• Amuzgo: chi
• Arabic: (la:)
• Arabic, Egyptian: (miš) or (muš)
• Basque: ez
• Bosnian:
• Catalan: no
• Chinese: 不 (bu)
• Croatian:
• Czech: ne-
• Danish: ,
• Dutch:
• Esperanto: {{t+|eo|ne|xs=Esperanto}}
• Faroese: {{t-|fo|ikki|xs=Faroese}}, {{t-|fo|ei|xs=Faroese}}
• Finnish:
• French: ne ... pas
• German:
• Greek: {{t+|el|δεν|sc=Grek}}, {{t+|el|δε|sc=Grek}}, {{t+|el|μη|sc=Grek}}
• Hebrew: לא (lo)
• Hindi: नहीं (nahī.n), न (na), मत (mat)
• Hittite: {{tø|hit|𒈾𒀜𒋫|tr=natta|sc=Xsux|xs=Hittite}}
• Hungarian:
• Icelandic: ekki, ei (dated), eigi (dated)
• Indonesian: {{t-|id|bukan|xs=Indonesian}}, {{t+|id|tidak|xs=Indonesian}}, {{t+|id|tak|xs=Indonesian}}
• Interlingua: non
• Irish: {{t-|ga|ní|xs=Irish}}, {{t|ga|níor|xs=Irish}} ; {{t-|ga|cha|xs=Irish}}, {{t-|ga|chan|xs=Irish}}, {{t-|ga|char|xs=Irish}} ; {{t+|ga|gan|xs=Irish}}
• Italian: ,
• Japanese: ではない (dewanai), ない (nai)

• Khmer: (min … teː)
• Korean: 아니다 (anida: adverb and verb)
• Kurdish: {{t-|ku|نه‌|sc=KUchar}}, {{t-|ku|نا|sc=KUchar}}
• Lao: (böö)
• Latin:
• Maltese: {{t-|mt|mhux|xs=Maltese}}, {{t-|mt|lanqas|xs=Maltese}}
• Norwegian:
• Novial: non
• Persian: {{fa-Arab|نه|نَه}} (næ)
• Polish:
• Portuguese:
• Quechua: ama
• Romanian:
• Russian: не#Russian|не (ne)
• Scottish Gaelic: chan eil, chan#Scottish Gaelic|chan, cha#Scottish Gaelic|cha
• Serbian:
• : Cyrillic: не#Serbian|не
• : Roman: ne#Serbian|ne
• Slovene:
• Spanish:
• Swedish: , ,
• Tagalog: hindi
• Tamazight: ⵓⵔ (ur) + verb, ⵓⵔⴷ (urd) + noun/pronoun
• Turkish:
• Tz'utujil: ma
• Ukrainian: не#Ukrainian|не (ne)
• Vietnamese: {{t+|vi|không|xs=Vietnamese}}
• Yiddish: ניט (nit), נישט (nisht)

Conjunction

not

1. Indicates that the first term is the proper object, as opposed to the second.
2. : I wanted a plate of shrimp, not a bucket of chicken.
3. : Ballots, not bullets.

Translations

• Czech: ,
• Dutch: ,
• Greek: {{t+|el|όχι|sc=Grek}}
• Icelandic: ekki, ei (dated), eigi (dated)

• Kurdish: {{t+|ku|نه‌ک|sc=KUchar}}
• Portuguese:
• Spanish:
• Swedish: , ,

Interjection

not!

1. Used to indicate that the previous phrase was meant sarcastically or ironically.
2. : I really like hanging out with my little brother watching Barney ... not!
3. : Sure, you're perfect the way you are ... not!

Synonyms

• I don't think

Translations

• Icelandic:
• Swedish:

Noun

not

1. unary|Unary logical function NOT, true if input is false, or a gate implementing that negation function.
2. : You need a not there to conform with the negative logic of the memory chip.

Translations

• Finnish:

• Swedish: ,

Related terms

• AND
• OR
• NAND
• NOR
• XOR

See also

• if
• then
• else
• and

• or
• true
• false

Category:100 English basic words Category:English homophones

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Albanian

Noun

not

1. a swim

Derived terms

• notoj or bën not to swim

Category:Albanian nouns

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German

Adjective

not

1. needing, necessary.

Derived terms

• notwendig

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Swedish

Noun

not IPA: ˈnuːt

1. note.
2. a short message; note.
3. (diplomacy) a formal message from a country to another country’s embassy.

NOT

1. the logical function NOT.

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Turkish

Noun

not

1. a short message; note.

Category:Turkish nouns

ar:not et:not es:not fr:not ko:not io:not it:not kk:not ku:not lo:not la:not li:not hu:not nl:not ja:not no:not pl:not pt:not ru:not simple:not fi:not sv:not ta:not te:not vi:not tr:not uk:not vo:not zh:not