These are common stumbling blocks. We start with negation only (exercises 1 & 2) and then practise mixed sentences
(exercises 3 & 4). From easy to hard.
Negation with "not to" – how it works
For "Don't be late.", build the sentence in three steps:
- Reporting clause + person: He told me
- Add not: He told me not
- to + base form: He told me not to be late.
person + not + to + verb
- He told me not to run.
- He told me to not run. He told me don't run.
- "never" stays and goes before "to" like "not": "Never give up." → She told
me never to give up.
Also important for the mixed exercises
- Negative question: The auxiliary verb disappears, backshift remains:
"Why didn't you call?" → He asked why I hadn't called.
- yes/no question with if, no do/does/did:
"Do you like tea?" → She asked if I liked tea.
- say vs. tell: tell needs a person (tell me),
say does not.
Exercise 5 · Error correction
Someone says something (original), but the reported version contains typical
errors – e.g. yesterday instead of the day before, a
wrong pronoun, a missing backshift, or incorrect negation. Tap each incorrect word
and type the correct form in the small field.