Spelling and Pronunciation
Negatives
It's a lot easier to learn about negative Spanish sentences if you have already learned the important vocabulary typically used in negative sentences and their affirmative counterparts.
Table 1 is a list of affirmative words that have negative counterparts. It is important to learn these words and understand that a negative sentence will never use the affirmative versions even though the English equivalent might.
|
Affirmative |
Negative |
|---|---|
|
sí (yes) |
no (no, not) |
|
algo (something) |
nada (nothing) |
|
alguien (someone, somebody) |
nadie (no one, nobody) |
|
alguno/-a/-os/-as (any, some) |
ninguno/–a (no, no one, not any, none)* |
|
o …o (either …or) |
ni …ni (neither …nor, not …nor) |
|
siempre (always) |
nunca, jamás (never, not ever) |
|
también (also) |
tampoco (not either, neither) |
*Note that the word “no” cannot negate a noun in Spanish as it does in English. You must use a form of the word ninguno to do this. (For example, no tengo ningún dinero.)
Some negative expressions are created by using a group of words with a specific meaning separate from their word-for-word translations. It is important to learn these expressions exactly as they are written because the significance of idiomatic expressions usually depends on the exact order of the words, and they cannot be looked up in most dictionaries. Following is a list of the most common negative idiomatic expressions:
|
ahora no |
not now |
|
apenas |
scarcely/hardly |
|
de ninguna manera |
no way, by no means |
|
de ningún modo |
no way, by no means |
|
en ninguna parte |
nowhere |
|
por ninguna parte |
nowhere |
|
en/por ningún lado/sitio/lugar |
nowhere |
|
ni hablar |
no way |
|
ni (ella) tampoco |
nor she either |
|
ni siquiera |
not even |
|
(no) en absoluto |
absolutely not |
|
no más de (number) |
no more than (amount) |
|
no más que (action) |
only (action) |
|
no solo …sino también … |
not only …but also … |
|
(Nunca, no) en mi vida |
never in my life |
|
nunca jamás |
never ever (emphatically) |
|
nunca más |
never again |
|
todavía no |
still not, not yet |
|
sin novedad |
nothing new |
|
ya no |
no longer |
