强调这个短语的否定含义。如：

Not many people heard the speech.=Very few people heard the speech.

去听那次演讲的人并不多。

Not every conclusion can hold water.

不是所有的结论都站得住脚。

Both her brothers are not in New York.

她的两个兄弟不都是在纽约。

(注：这一部分牵涉到部分否定和完全否定。部分否定是指在英语中含有总括意义的代词、形容词、副词等与否定词连用时，只否定一部分，常见的有every, both, all等)。如：

All that glitters is not gold.

闪闪发光物，未必尽黄金。

而完全否定一般与neither, none, no等连用。如：

Neither of them was in good health.

他们两人身体都不好。

None of us are afraid of difficulties, but all of us are not good at overcoming difficulties.

我们都不害怕困难，但并非都善于克服困难(前半句用完全否定，后半句用部分否定)。

4.if从句里面的附加否定。有时候我们会运用whether或if从句来表示我们对某种情形的怀疑。这些表达比较随便，更多地用于口语当中。如：

I wonder whether/if I shouldn't bring an umbrella.(I wonder whether/if I should bring an umbrella.)

我想知道我是否需要带伞。

I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't move soon.

如果他们不快搬走,我一点都不吃惊。

5.直接由表示否定意义的词构成的否定表达，常见的否定词有hardly, seldom, unless, would rather...than..., never, scarcely, none, no, nor, nothing, nobody, the last, far from, free from。

I'll never forget the day when I joined the League.

我永远忘不了我入团的那一天。

We could hardly (scarcely) understand his English.

我们几乎听不懂他的英语。

None of the answers is/are correct.所有的答案都不正确。

The classics are far from disappearing.经典著作绝没有消失。

He is the last person to do it.他是最不可能干那件事的人。

6.还有一些否定结构形式上是否定但表达肯定含义。如：

I couldn't agree with you more.我非常赞同你。

It couldn't be worse.这再糟糕不过了。(非常糟糕)