Step-by-step explanation:
Example:
[tex]2a^{-1}[/tex]
To include the negative exponent, but discard the negative exponent, the expression has to be written as:
[tex]2\frac{1}{a^{1} } \: or \:2 \frac{1}{a}[/tex]
Using the example, we can determine that:
[tex]-4x^{-1}=-4\frac{1}{x}[/tex]