Negation – Free Exercise

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Exercises

Negate the sentences.

  1. Tengo una familia muy numerosa.
    →   muy numerosa.[I have a big family.|→ I don’t have a big family.]|place no before the verb
  2. En Sevilla hace mucho calor en agosto.
    → En Sevilla   en agosto.[In Seville it’s very hot in August.|→ In Seville it’s not very hot in August.]|place no before the verb
  3. Diego quiere ser actor.
    → Diego  .[Diego wants to be an actor.|→ Diego doesn’t want to be an actor.]|place no before the verb
  4. Me gustaría viajar a Nepal y hacer senderismo.
    →  .[I’d like to go to Nepal and go hiking.|→ I wouldn’t like to travel to Nepal nor go hiking.]|place no before the verb|use ni to connect two negated clauses
  5. Yo también iré a la fiesta de fin de curso.
    → Yo   de fin de curso.[I’m also going to the end-of-course party.|→ I’m not going to the end-of-course party either.]|también becomes tampoco in a negated clause

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.

Double negatives. Are the following sentences correct or incorrect?

  1. No he visto a nadie conocido en la fiesta.[I haven’t seen anyone I know at the party.]|when nadie comes after the verb, we use a double negative (no + verb + nadie)
  2. Ninguna persona no quiere trabajar gratis.incorrect|when ninguna comes before the verb, we don’t need a double negative|the correct negation is: Ninguna persona quiere trabajar gratis.|→ [No one wants to work for free.]
  3. A Susana no le gusta el sushi y a mí también.incorrect|también becomes tampoco in negated clauses|the correct negation is: A Susana no le gusta el sushi y a mí tampoco.|→ [Susana doesn’t like sushi and neither do I.]
  4. Nada de lo que dices tiene sentido.[Nothing that you say makes sense.]|when nada comes before the verb, we don’t need a double negative
  5. He ido nunca a Miami.incorrect|when nunca comes after the verb, we need a double negative (no + verb + nunca)|the correct negation is: No he ido nunca a Miami.|→ [I’ve never been to Miami.]