Reported Commands: Negative

Imagine your boss says, Don't be late.

You want to tell your partner this news.

You cannot just say, My boss said don't be late.

Well, you can, but it sounds a bit basic.

To sound more natural, you use reported speech.

You take the direct command and change it.

The word don't disappears completely.

In its place, you put not to.

Then you add the action word.

It is like changing a lightbulb.

You take out the old don't.

You screw in the new not to.

Now your sentence is perfectly reported.

It works for orders, requests, and warnings.

1. 1Building these sentences follows a clear path.
2. 2Follow these four simple steps:
3. 3Start with a reporting verb.
4. 4Use words like told or asked.
5. 5Told is for strong orders.
6. 6Asked is for polite requests.
7. 7Add the person being spoken to.
8. 8This is usually me, him, her, or a name.
9. 9Example: She told me...
10. 10Add the magic phrase not to.
11. 11This replaces the don't from the original command.
12. 12Keep these two words together.
13. 13Add the base verb.
14. 14Do not change the verb's ending.
15. 15Do not add -ing or -ed.
16. 16Example: not to eat, not to go.

Use this when you repeat a rule.

Think about a flight attendant on a plane.

They say, Don't smoke in the bathroom.

You tell your friend, She told us not to smoke.

Use it when you share a warning.

A doctor says, Don't eat sugar.

You tell your family, He told me not to eat sugar.

Use it in job interviews to report past instructions.

My old manager told me not to rush.

It is great for ordering food too.

I asked the waiter not to add onions.

It makes your English sound smooth and connected.

Do not use this for simple facts.

If someone says, I don't like cats, that is different.

That is a statement, not a command.

Do not use this for questions.

If someone asks, Why don't you sit down?, use question rules.

Only use this for Do or Don't style orders.

If there is no order, you don't need not to.

Also, avoid it if you are quoting someone exactly.

If you use quotation marks, keep the original don't.

One big mistake is keeping the word don't.

People say, He told me to don't go.

This sounds very strange to a native speaker.

Always delete don't when you report the command.

Another mistake is the word order.

Some say, He told me to not go.

While people might understand, not to is the standard.

Think of not as the guard in front of to.

Forgetting the person is also a common slip.

He told not to go is missing the listener.

Who did he tell? Always include the person.

Compare this to positive commands.

A positive command is just to + verb.

He told me to go.

The negative version just adds not.

He told me not to go.

It is much easier than reporting statements.

In statements, you often have to change the tense.

In commands, the verb stays the same.

Don't run becomes not to run.

The verb run never changes its shape.

This makes it one of the easiest reporting rules.