The word not is always placed next to the verb in a sentence, and people often think that the word is part of the verb. Dan could not open the bottle. However, the word not is actually an adverb. It tells more about the action. How did Dan open the bottle? He opened it not.
Here are more sentence examples using the adverb not:
Gary did not do his homework.
Our dog would not stop barking.
We should not be so judgmental.
In each sentence, the word not tells more about the action in the sentence. Notice that the adverb not always sits between the helping verb and the action verb.
The word not is an adverb. Use the adverb not to tell more about the action in a sentence.
▶It’s your turn. Change the meaning of this sentence by adding the adverb not: Jane would help me. That wasn’t difficult, was it?