decided not to vs decided to not

Both "decided not to" and "decided to not" are correct, but "decided not to" is more commonly used in English. The placement of the word "not" after the verb "decided" is the preferred structure in English.

Last updated: April 04, 2024 • 174 views

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

"decided not to"

This phrase is the preferred structure in English, where "not" comes after the verb "decided."

Examples:

I decided not to go to the party.
She decided not to pursue that career path.
They decided not to buy the house.
He decided not to eat meat anymore.
We decided not to watch the movie.

Show examples from the web [+]

I decided not to lay with Scott.
I've decided not to come back.
The kind found love and he decided not to execute her.
So I decided not to fire her again until she'll be no threat to anyone.
But we'd decided not to write to each other.
I've decided not to see Bob.
So I decided not to punish myself.
He's decided not to move forward with the project here.
I decided not to join after the fact.
She's decided not to eat meat anymore.
I decided not to have a husband at all.
I have decided not to pity myself any longer.
So you decided not to leave us.
So you decided not to leave us.
I guess she decided not to take off last night after all.
We the NCAA have decided not to give Blue Mountain State University the death penalty.
They were fighting and decided not to make one.
I've decided not to be crazy.
We decided not to stay married.
Your father told me that you decided not to sell.

Alternatives:

chose not to
opted not to
selected not to
resolved not to
determined not to

This phrase is correct but less commonly used in English.

"decided to not"

While grammatically correct, this structure is less common in English. It is still understandable but may sound slightly awkward to native speakers.

Examples:

She decided to not go to the concert.
He decided to not take the job offer.
They decided to not go on vacation.
I decided to not eat dessert.
We decided to not attend the meeting.

Show examples from the web [+]

And I just decided to not let it win.
We just decided to not be engaged anymore.
Expresso São Carlos Esporte Clube won the league, but decided to not play in the Série A2, and was extinct.
After the war ended the City Planning Commission decided to not include the subway in its plans.
We will return and try again, listen to the workers... maybe trying again they will be convinced... the assembly has decided to not leave the current plan of struggle
I thought you said Tara Stansfield decided to not release the tape.
Maybe he decided to not go.
It was decided to not start building until permission had been received for all phases of the development including the rebuilding of the Cricket Field Stand.
I decided to not go and find my sister's killer and seek revenge.
Despite pops' best efforts, Erica decided to not even go to the talent show.
Gilles is convinced to have reached that limit, so he decided to not add any more substantial new features.
So, after a while, I decided to not take Journey's advice, and I did stop believin'.
I mean, well, you know, you had decided to not have it.
Rhodes recorded songs at A&M to fulfill that contract, but A&M decided to not release them at the time.
On 20 December, it was announced that Guy N'dy Assembé, André Onana, Joël Matip, Allan Nyom, Maxime Poundjé, Ibrahim Amadou and André-Frank Zambo Anguissa decided to not take part in the competition.
I had these tickets to Coldplay, but I decided to not try to sneak out.
And yet the ransomware authors have recently opened a CryptoLocker Decryption Service, a site through which they care to give a second decoding chance to the users that decided to not to pay at first.
This morning we have decided to not put the second set of tyres like all, after the good performance of the pole.
Two years after the No vote, they decided to not listen and put all the measures into a treaty, signed in Lisbon.
One day, I decided to not go to school and I got a bus to the city of Sao Paulo (500 kilometers away from Rio de Janeiro), to try to purchase these special games.

Alternatives:

chose to not
opted to not
selected to not
resolved to not
determined to not

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decided not to vs decided to not

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