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Consider the sentence:

Here comes the guy.

What would be the best negative form of this sentence--not normal negative like "The guy doesn't come here", but both inverted and negative?

One possibility is:

Not here comes the guy.

in the sense that Not here is used as an adverb clause and the positions of subject and verb are switched. Does that sound right or is there a better way to have both negation and inversion?

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    Mr. Anderson would say: "There IS no rainbow!"
    – Tushar Raj
    Commented May 15, 2015 at 11:21
  • There comes no rainbow.
    – Peter Shor
    Commented May 15, 2015 at 11:28
  • There no guy comes
    – mplungjan
    Commented May 15, 2015 at 11:33
  • @petershor Yes, if the subject isn't specified. But what if the subject is specified? (I changed the subject from rainbow to guy because it might confuse)
    – hjjg200
    Commented May 15, 2015 at 11:35
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    Going by the comments and answers so far, this is quite a mess. The answer is, obviously, "there doesn't come the guy" (when talking about a specific guy, which is what you're after), or "there comes no guy" (when we're not talking about a specific guy). Everything else on this page is pointless filler and is bound to confuse future readers. It must either be weeded out, or the question has to be asked anew in a more clear manner.
    – RegDwigнt
    Commented May 15, 2015 at 12:46

3 Answers 3

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The final structure may depend on which aspect of the idea you wish to negate.

Is the rainbow not coming as expected?

There doesn't come the rainbow (as it stayed in Duluth).

Or is it not a rainbow that's coming, but something else?

There comes not the rainbow (but my dog Uncouth).

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In AmE, we usually say "here comes..." and "there goes...".

The negative to "Here comes the guy," could be:

"The guy hasn't come."

"The guy isn't here/there."

Or, (in the common parlance) "Where the hell is this &*%# guy?"

(You could also substitute "elevator" for "guy" in your example)

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There the rainbow fails to come.

There the rainbow comes. Not.

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