Melissa : Resources

Negation: Using 'No' and Related Words

Double Negative Sometimes Required

* negation in spanish
* no
* spanish grammar
* spanish sentence structure
Changing a Spanish sentence to a negative can be as easy as placing no before th
e main verb. But Spanish is different than English in that Spanish can require t
he use of the double negative under some circumstances.
In Spanish, the most common negative word is no, which can be used as an adverb
or adjective. As an adverb negating a sentence, it always comes immediately befo
re the verb, unless the verb is preceded by an object, in which case it comes im
mediately before the object.
No como. (I am not eating.) No quiere ir al centro. (She doesn't want to g
o downtown.) No lo quiero. (I don't want it.) ¿No te gusta la bicicleta? (Don't yo
u like the bicycle?)
When no is used as an adjective, or as an adverb modifying an adjective or other
adverb, it typically is the equivalent of the English "not" or of a prefix such
as "non." In those cases, it comes immediately before the word it modifies. Not
e that while no is sometimes used to mean "not" in this way, this use isn't terr
ibly common, and usually other words or sentence constructions are used.
El senador está por la política de la no violencia. (The senator is for the po
licy of nonviolence.) Tiene dos computadoras no usadas. (He has two unused compu
ters.) Mi hermano es poco inteligente. (My brother is unintelligent.) Ese doctor
es sin principios. (That doctor is unprincipled.)
Spanish also has several negative words that are frequently used. They include n
ada (nothing), nadie (nobody, no one), ninguno (none), nunca (never), and jamás (n
ever). Ninguno, depending on its usage, also comes in the forms ningún, ninguna, n
ingunos and ningunas, although the plural forms are seldom used.
Nada vale tanto como el amor. (Nothing is worth as much as love.) Nadie qu
iere salir. (Nobody wants to leave.) Ninguna casa tiene más televisores que la mía.
(No house has more televisions than mine.) Nunca bebemos la cerveza. (We never d
rink beer). Jamás te veo. (I never see you.)
One aspect of Spanish that may seem unusual to English speakers is the use of th
e double negative. If one of the negative words listed above (such as nada or na
die) is used after the verb, a negative (often no) also must be used before the
verb. Such a usage is not considered redundant. When translating to English, you
shouldn't translate both negatives as negatives.
No sé nada. (I don't know anything, or I know nothing.) No conozco a nadie.
(I don't know anybody, or I know nobody.) A nadie le importa nada. (Nothing matt
ers to anybody.)