Negation in Spanish grammar

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How to make negative sentences in Spanish

Negative sentences in Spanish (las oraciones negativas) are formed by placing the adverb no before the verb.

We can also form negative sentences with words such as nadie, nada, ningún, etc. Depending on their position in the sentence, we may have to use a double negative.

Read on to learn about word order and double negatives in Spanish sentences, then practise in the interactive exercises.

Example

A Cristina le encantan las novelas de ciencia ficción.

No cree en fantasmas ni quiere que los robots dominen el planeta.

Tampoco le gustaría vivir un apocalipsis zombie. Pero leer las historias en los libros le fascina.

En la televisión hay muchos programas sobre visitas de extraterrestres a la Tierra.

Pero Cristina no ha visto nunca un ovni ni ninguna cosa sospechosa en el cielo.

Aunque hoy parece que las estrellas tienen un brillo inusual…

How to use no in Spanish

The easiest way to negate a sentence in Spanish to put no before the verb.

Example:
Cristina cree en fantasmas. → Cristina no cree en fantasmas.Cristina believes in ghosts. → Cristina doesn’t believe in ghosts.
Cristina quiere que los robots dominen el planeta. → Cristina no quiere que los robots dominen el planeta.Cristina wants robots to take over the planet. → Cristina doesn’t want robots to take over the planet.

Object pronouns in negative sentences

When the sentence contains a direct and/or indirect object pronoun, no comes first.

Example 1:
Cristina no ve programas sobre visitas de extraterrestres.
→ Cristina no los ve.Cristina doesn’t watch programmes about extraterrestrial visits.
Cristina doesn’t watch them.
Example 2:
Cristina no cuenta historias de miedo a su hermano.
→ Cristina no se las cuenta.Cristina doesn’t tell her brother scary stories.
Cristina doesn’t tell him them.

→ Learn more about direct and indirect object pronouns in Spanish.

ni…

The conjunction ni connects two negative clauses, similar to the English word nor.

Ni negates a verb that follows a negated clause; it basically means y no.

Example:
Cristina no cree en fantasmas ni quiere que los robots dominen el planeta.Cristina doesn’t believe in ghosts nor does she want robots to take over the planet.
Clause 1: Cristina no cree en fantasmas.
Clause 2: Cristina no quiere que los robots dominen el planeta.

No as an answer

When responding to a yes/no question, no is repeated: it appears once as the answer and once as part of the negation.

Example:
—¿Has visto alguna vez un ovni?
—No, no he visto nunca ninguno.—Have you ever seen a UFO?
—No, I’ve never seen one.

¿No? for confirmation

The adverb no can appear at the end of a sentence as a way of asking for confirmation.

This is similar to when we ask right? in English or when we form question tags (you don’t mind, do you?).

Examples:
A Cristina le encantan las novelas de ciencia ficción, ¿no?Cristina likes science fiction novels, doesn’t she?
Cristina no ha visto nunca un ovni, ¿no?Cristina has never seen a UFO, has she?
always preceded by a comma and placed between question marks

Negative adverbs and double negatives in Spanish

In addition to no, Spanish also has the following negative adverbs:

  • nunca/jamás (= never)
  • tampoco (= neither/not either)
  • nada (= nothing)
  • nadie (= no one)
  • ningún/ninguna (= none/not any/not a single)

These words have two possible placements in a sentence:

Option 1: before the verb

When these words come before the verb, they stand in place of no:

Examples:
Cristina nunca ha visto un ovni.Cristina has never seen a UFO.
Cristina no cree en fantasmas. Tampoco le gustaría vivir un apocalipsis zombie.Cristina doesn’t believe in ghosts. She wouldn’t like to live through a zombie apocalypse either.
Nada está bajo control.Nothing is under control.
Nadie quiere vivir un apocalipsis zombie.No one wants to live through a zombie apocalypse.
Ningún amigo de Cristina ha visto un ovni.None of Cristina’s friends has seen a UFO.

Option 2: after the verb = double negative

When these words come after the verb, we have to form a double negative: no + verb (+ complement) + negative adverb:

Examples:
Cristina no ha visto nunca un ovni. / Cristina no ha visto un ovni nunca.Cristina has never seen a UFO.
A Cristina no le gustaría vivir un apocalipsis zombie tampoco.Cristina wouldn’t like to live through a zombie apocalypse either.
Cristina no ha visto nada sospechoso.Cristina hasn’t seen anything suspicious.
Cristina no conoce a nadie que quiera vivir un apocalipsis zombie.Cristina doesn’t know anyone who would like to live through a zombie apocalypse.
Cristina no ha visto ningún ovni.Cristina has never seen a UFO.

ningún, ninguna

The indefinite determiners ningún and ninguna (= not one/not any/none) are used before masculine and feminine nouns respectively.

The double negative rule also applies.

Examples:
Ningún amigo de Cristina ha visto un fantasma.None of Cristina’s friends has seen a ghost.
ningún + masculine noun
Cristina no ha visto ninguna cosa sospechosa en el cielo.Cristina hasn’t seen anything suspicious in the sky.
ninguna + feminine noun

Note: ningún becomes ninguno when we omit the masculine noun:

Example:
Cristina no ha visto ningún ovni.
→ Cristina no ha visto ninguno.Cristina hasn’t seen a single UFO.
→ Cristina hasn’t seen a single one.

How to negate a sentence in Spanish

When transforming an affirmative sentence into a negative one, the following equivalents are helpful:

Affirmative Negative Examples
alguien nadie

Alguien de su clase cree en fantasmas.
→ Nadie de su clase cree en fantasmas.Someone in her class believes in ghosts.
→ No one in her class believes in ghosts.
algún, alguno*, alguna,
algunos, algunas		 ningún, ninguno*, ninguna
(always singular)

Seguro que alguna persona ha visto un ovni.
→ Seguro que ninguna persona ha visto un ovni.I’m sure that someone has seen a UFO.
→ I’m sure that no one has seen a UFO.
algo nada

Cristina ha leído algo sobre extraterrestres.
→ Cristina no ha leído nada interesante sobre extraterrestres.Cristina has read something about aliens.
→ Cristina has read nothing interesting about aliens.
siempre nunca, jamás

Siempre lee antes de irse a dormir.
→Nunca lee antes de irse a dormir.She always reads before going to sleep.
→ She never reads before going to sleep.
también tampoco

Cristina también ve películas de ciencia ficción.
→ Cristina tampoco ve películas de ciencia ficción.Cristina also watches science fiction films.
→ Cristina doesn’t watch science fiction films either.
todavía, aún ya no

Todavía/Aún hay dudas sobre qué es lo que brilla en el cielo.
→ Ya no hay dudas sobre qué es lo que brilla en el cielo.There are still doubts about what is shining in the sky.
→ There are no longer any doubts about what is shining in the sky.
todo nada

Todo está bajo control.
→ Nada está bajo control.Everything is under control.
→ Nothing is under control.
todos nadie
(siempre en singular)

Todos han visto algo sospecho en el cielo.
→ Nadie ha visto nada sospechoso en el cielo.Everyone has seen something suspicious in the sky.
→ No one has seen anything suspicious in the sky.
un, uno*, dos, tres… ninguno/-a/-os/-as

Solo hay una cosa clara.
→ No hay ninguna cosa clara.Only one thing is clear.
→ Nothing is clear.

*use alguno, uno and ninguno in place of a masculine noun:

Example:
—Una vez vi un ovni.
—¡Yo también he visto uno!
—¿En serio? Yo nunca he visto ningún ovni.
—Yo tampoco he visto ninguno.—I saw a UFO once.
—I saw one too!
—Really? I’ve never seen a single UFO.
—I’ve never seen one either.

Negative prefixes: in-, des-

Some words can be negated via prefixes, the most common of which are in- and des-.

Examples:
Cristina desconfía de los programas sobre fantasmas.Cristina doesn’t trust programmes about ghosts.
confiar → desconfiar
Hoy las estrellas tienen un brillo inusual.Today the stars are unusually bright.
usual → inusual

in- → im-

The prefix in- se becomes im- when added to a word beginning with b- or p-.

Example:
in + posible → imposibleimpossible

The lists below show some common examples of words formed with the prefixes des- and in-.

des-

  • Adjectives formed with des-: desagradabledisagreeable, descontentodissatisfied, deshonestodishonest, deslealdisloyal, desinteresadouninterested, etc.
  • Verbs formed with des-: desatornillarto unscrew, desayunarto have breakfast, descolgarto take down, desconectarto disconnect, desconfiarto distrust, desconocerto not know/not recognise, descongelarto defrost, deshacerto undo/melt, desmentirto deny, etc.

in-

  • Adjectives formed with in-: imparableunstoppable, imperdibleunmissable, inaptoinapt, incomparableincomparable, incompetenteincompetent, incomprensibleincomprehensible, independienteindependent, inhóspitoinhospitable, inofensivoinoffensive, inmaduroimmature, inusualunusual, etc.