The continuous and separate spelling of “not” with adjectives is regulated by a number of rules. Usually, the use of this negative particle causes many difficulties not only among schoolchildren, but also in adults. We will try further to understand the intricacies and remember the rules.
The adjective is ...
One of the most striking, colorful parts of speech is considered to be the name adjective. It enlivens our speech, makes it more interesting, diverse. When we want to talk about what a person looks like, we cannot do without him. Height, voice, facial expression, color of clothes - all this is expressed precisely by the name of the adjective.
It is difficult to imagine works of art that would not use it as a description. For example, human behavior in a given situation is unlikely to be without him.
And there’s nothing to say about poetry: there is an adjective all the time. They are used in media of various artistic expressiveness: metaphors, epithets, comparisons.
Why do you need "not"
In the sixth grade, students will learn to combine and separate spelling "not" with adjectives. Indeed, denial in this part of speech gives it a completely different, special meaning.
Let's take two examples:
- The man is not at all cheerful.
- He was sad.
With all the seemingly common similarities, they have different emotional shades. The second example is usually used in everyday speech, when we tell each other about ordinary events. The very first sentence, as a rule, is used by classics in their works. It carries not just information about a person’s condition, but a certain highlight, mystery.
Denial helps not only change the meaning of the word to the opposite, but also give it a certain color.
Together
Throughout the learning process, students in the classroom repeat the theme of "Consolidated and separate spelling" not "with adjectives." Even in primary school, children learn that this particle, for example, with verbs is always written only separately. Therefore, errors arise in spelling it with other parts of speech. With adjectives, this is different.
It should be written together when the word without "no" does not exist. For example: hated, nondescript . Let’s try to discard this particle and get: naive, adult. Such words, of course, are not in the Russian language. That is why we are forced to write them together so that their meaning is not lost.
The continuous spelling “not” with adjectives is also observed in the case when we can replace a word with this negative particle by a synonym.
For example: Mom returned from the guests dissatisfied . We try to find a word similar in meaning and get: Mom returned from the guests sad (angry, sad) .
We see that they easily replace each other. This gives us the right to write the particle “not” with this word together.
Separately
The rule of writing “not” with adjectives is not difficult, you just need to remember some features.
So, separately we will write the word when there is a contrast in the sentence.
For example: The flow in the river is not calm, but stormy. The union “a” suggests that in this case one adjective is opposed to another. This means that they have the opposite meaning. Otherwise, such words in the Russian language are called antonyms.
Be careful and focus on the context. In this case, “stormy” and “calm” have opposite meanings.
Do not confuse the union "a" with a similar in meaning union "but." Very often, he does not contrast words, but adds information.
For example: Our cat is not purebred, but kind. This proposal has such a meaning: although the animal does not have any features, it is nevertheless very good.
There is no opposition, the words "thoroughbred" and "good" are not antonyms. In this case, it is also necessary to pay attention to the value of the proposal as a whole.
The next case when separate spelling of “not” with adjectives is used is the presence of auxiliary words “completely”, “at all”, “by no means”.
For instance:
- The wind outside is not cold at all.
- This man is by no means tall.
- The film was not at all interesting.
In the presence of these "helpers" we will always write this particle only separately.
We will continue to parse the spelling “not” with adjectives with the following example:
- The color of the tablecloth was not white.
What do we see? On the one hand, you can replace the word with a synonym, for example, "light". On the other hand, a contrast is implied here: not white, but red or some other color (in this case, the words "white" and "red" are contextual synonyms).
Here is another example of separate writing: if a contrast is implied, then the word with "not" cannot be written together.
Difficult cases
The continuous and separate spelling of “not” with adjectives is not limited to the cases listed above. Sometimes situations arise when a word does not fit any rule. Take an example: Our child is not calmer than the neighbor. On the one hand, a contrast is implied, and on the other, a synonym can be chosen. In this case, the dual spelling of “not” with adjectives is allowed, that is, both together and separately.
It is also worth noting the use of this particle with short forms.
She will always be written with them in the same way as with complete ones.
For example: an ugly look - a look ugly, a man not rich - not rich (it is understood that he is of average wealth).
Output
We studied the rule of writing “not” with adjectives, tried to touch on the most common cases.
In fact, there are much more nuances, but they should be considered in each case. Now you will not have difficulty when you come across an adjective used with the negative particle “not”.