What does negative mean?
Word: Negative
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Negative means saying or meaning no, bad or harmful, or less than zero. A negative test result shows that something is not present.
Synonyms: unfavourable, pessimistic, harmful
Antonyms: affirmative
How do you spell negative?
Syllables: neg - a - tive
Tricky part: The vowel after the g is a, though it sounds weak: students write negetive.
Watch out for: negetive, negativ, negitive
Memory tip: A negative number sits below zero; picture the a after the g sitting low and quiet too, and say it as a clear 'ah' in your head when you spell.
Negative in a sentence
Example 1: Try not to make negative remarks about your friends' drawings.
Example 2: Minus eight is a negative number.
Example 3: The bad weather had a negative effect on the mango harvest.
Fun Fact
The Indian mathematician Brahmagupta wrote rules for working with negative numbers in the 7th century, calling them debts.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word negative as used in the sentence:
The coach gave us negative feedback after we lost the match by fifty runs.
a) silent
b) careless
c) lengthy
d) positive
Show answer
d) positive. Positive feedback praises what went well, so it stands opposite to negative feedback.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
n_gat_ve
a) i, i
b) a, i
c) e, i
d) e, e
Show answer
c) e, i. The word starts with ne, and the ending is tive with an i.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
Her reply to the invitation was gvtaieen, so she will not come to the party.
a) relative
b) narrative
c) negative
d) native
Show answer
c) negative. Negative is the only option with a g, and the jumble has one.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. negative 2. subtracsion 3. intiger 4. decimel
a) taking one number away from another
b) a whole number, not a fraction
c) a number written with a point, such as 2.5
d) below zero on the number line
Show answer
d) below zero on the number line. Subtracsion uses s where t belongs, intiger has i where e belongs and decimel has e where a belongs, so negative is the only correct word.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these is a negative number?
a) 3
b) 0.3
c) -3
d) 30
Show answer
c) -3
2. A person with a negative attitude usually ____.
a) expects things to go wrong
b) works very hard all day
c) enjoys every new challenge
d) smiles at everyone he meets
Show answer
a) expects things to go wrong
