Negation in Spanish grammar
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.
Contents
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. |
| algún, alguno*, alguna, algunos, algunas |
ningún, ninguno*, ninguna (always singular) |
Seguro que alguna persona ha visto un ovni. |
| algo | nada |
Cristina ha leído algo sobre extraterrestres. |
| siempre | nunca, jamás |
Siempre lee antes de irse a dormir. |
| también | tampoco |
Cristina también ve películas de ciencia ficción. |
| todavía, aún | ya no |
Todavía/Aún hay dudas sobre qué es lo que brilla en el cielo. |
| todo | nada |
Todo está bajo control. |
| todos | nadie (siempre en singular) |
Todos han visto algo sospecho en el cielo. |
| un, uno*, dos, tres… | ninguno/-a/-os/-as |
Solo hay una cosa clara. |
*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.
