Not all negative statements in English use the word “not.” Some words look neutral but carry a hidden negative meaning. These are called negative polarity words, and they’re a classic trap for learners because they require the question tag to be positive, even when there’s no visible “not.”

In this lesson, you will learn how to master these tricky words to improve your fluency. We will explore:
What negative polarity words are and how to identify them.
How words like never, hardly, seldom, and rarely function as negatives.
The crucial difference between few/little and a few/a little.
How to form correct question tags for sentences containing these words.