We have two types of negative words in Spanish: words that are negative in origin (no, ninguno(a), nunca, sin), and words that are not negative in origin but take on a negative meaning when accompanied by the article "no" (nada, jamás).
- No estudio español. (I don´t study Spanish.)
- Ninguna nos vio. (No one (from a feminine group) saw us.)
- Nunca te lo dije. (I never told you about it.)
- Entré sin hacer ruido. (I came in without making any noise.)
- No tengo nada. (I have nothing.)
- No me rendiré jamás. (I will never surrender.)
- Es mejor no decir nada ahora. (It is better not to say anything at this point.)
- Es malo no decir la verdad. (It is bad not to tell the truth.)
In Spanish, negative answers begin with "no". In simple and compound tenses, always put no before the conjugated verb.
- No juego ajedrez. (I don´t play chess.)
- No he hecho nada malo. (I have done nothing wrong.)
- No quiero comer. (I don´t want to eat.)
- No quiero comer nada. (I don´t want to eat anything.)
(Note how in Spanish we use more than one negative word in the same sentence.)
"No" is also placed before the object pronoun:
- No le he visto. (I did not see him.)
- No lo he probado. (I have not tasted it.)
- No se ha mejorado. (He/she has not gotten better.)
This is how we use the construction "neither... nor" in Spanish:
- No juego ni fútbol ni tenis. (I play neither soccer nor tennis.)
- La fiesta no estuvo ni buena ni mala. (The party was neither good nor bad.)
- A él no le gusta ni bailar ni cantar. (He doesn´t like neither to dance or to sing.)
We use the negative words "nadie", "nada", "nunca", jamás" in comparisons and in phrases that begin with "sin" (without) or "antes de (que)" (before):
- Ronaldinho juega mejor que nadie. (Ronaldinho plays better than anyone.)
- Ahora te comprendo mejor que nunca. (Now I understand you better than ever.)
- Jaime vino sin traer nada. (Jaime came without bringing anything.)
- Ayer bebí más que nadie. (Yesterday I drank more than anyone.)
- Antes de nada, cuéntame qué te pasó.
(Before anything, tell me what happened to you.)
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A few negative expressions
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No importa. (It doesn´t matter.):
No importa si es tarde. (It doesn´t matter if it´s late.)
No te importa si es tarde. (You don´t care if it´s late.) |
De nada: This is how we say "you´re welcome".
Muchas gracias. De nada.
(Thank you very much. You´re welcome.) |
Todavía no: (Not yet. )
¿Estás lista? Todavía no.
(Are you ready? Not yet.) |
No obstante. (Nevertheless, in spite of.)
Hay tormenta. No obstante, tengo que ir a trabajar.
(There is a storm. Nevertheless, I have to go to work.)
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Ya no: (No longer.)
Ya no estudio español. (I no longer study Spanish.)
Ni yo tampoco: (Neither do I.)
No sé. Ni yo tampoco. (I don´t know. Neither do I.) |
De ninguna manera: (Certainly not, no way)
¿Quiere sentarse en otro lugar? De ninguna manera.
(Do you want to sit somewhere else? No way.) |
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