I am well aware of the fact that in order to form a negative sentence in Present Simple one must use an auxiliary (do/does, am/is/are) or a modal verb (can, may etc).
I wonder whether it is possible to say 'I have not much time.' (I do not mean 'not so much' time here.) and whether such usage is grammatical.
I mean to say, it is absolutely OK to say 'I have NO time', why is it then incorrect to say 'I have NOT MUCH time'?
I would appreciate it if you referred me to some reliable resources.
Best Answer
I have not much time is grammatical but rather stilted. If contracted, it would sound much more natural and conversational, I've not much time or I haven't much time. I don't have much time is how most native speakers would express the idea.