Negation – Free Exercise

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Exercise A1

Choose the correct negated form.

  1. Hablas demasiado rápido, no comprendo .[You’re speaking too fast; I can’t understand anything.]|If nada comes after the verb, we need doubled negation: no … nada.
  2. Silvia está asombrada. Ella no había visto a un hombre tan alto.[Silvia is surprised. She’s never seen such a tall man.]|If nunca comes after the verb, we need doubled negation: no … nunca.
  3. No hay en el concierto.[No one is at the concert.]|If nadie comes after the verb, we need doubled negation: no … nadie.
  4. • ¿Qué piensas de este vestido?
    • No me gusta .[• What do you think of this dress?|• I don’t like it at all.]|If nada comes after the verb, we need doubled negation: no … nada.
  5. Hoy tiene ganas de salir a la calle.[No one feels like going outside today.]|If nadie comes before the verb, we don’t need no.
  6. • No quiero ir a la fiesta.
    • Yo quiero ir a la fiesta.[• I don’t want to go to the party.|• I don’t want to go to the party either.]|(n)either → tampoco. If tampoco comes before the verb, we don’t need no.

Turn the positive sentences into negative sentences. The underlined section should be negated.

  1. Mi hermana canta bien.
    →   [My sister sings well. → My sister doesn’t sing well.]|We generally construct negation by placing no before the conjugated verb.
  2. El árbol tiene todavía hojas.
    →   [The tree still has leaves. → The tree doesn’t have any more leaves.]|Todavía becomes ya no…
  3. El vigilante está siempre allí.
    →   [The guard is always there. → The guard is never there.]|The negation of siempre is no… nunca or no… jamás. But if nunca/jamás comes before the verb, we don’t use no.
  4. Tengo una amiga.
    →   [I have a friend. → I don’t have any friend.]|No/any is translated with no… ninguna.
  5. Hay algo en la nevera.
    →   [There’s something in the refrigerator. → There’s nothing in the refrigerator.]|The negation of algo is no… nada. Here it would be uncommon for nada to appear before the verb.
  6. Veo a alguien en la casa.
    →   [I see someone in the house. → I see no one in the house.]|The negation of alguien is nadie. Here it would be uncommon for nadie to appear before the verb.