To make a sentence negative, place the word "no" before the verb.
Ella no habla español.
She doesn't speak Spanish.Él no es medico
He is not a doctor.
When the answer to a question is negative, two negative words are required.
¿Habla Ud. Italiano? (Do you speak Italian?)
No. No hablo Italiano. (No. I don't speak Italiano.)¿ Está Carlos en la clase? (Is Carlos in the class?)
No. Carlos no está en la clase. (No. Carlos is not in the class.)¿Siempre estudias? (Do you always study?)
No, nunca estudio. (No, I never study.)
Study the following list of affirmative words and their negative counterparts:
algo (something)
nada (nothing)alguien (somebody)
nadie (nobody)algún (-o, -a, -os, -as) (some, something)
ningún (-o, -a, -os, -as) (no, none)siempre (always)
nunca (never) jamás (never, ever)también (also)
tampoco (neither, not either)o . . . o (either . . . or)
ni . . . ni (neither . . . nor)
The negative words can be used alone, preceding the verb.
Nadie camina.
Nobody walks.Él nunca come.
He never eats.Juan tampoco baila.
Juan doesn't dance either.
The negative words can also be used with the word "no," following the verb. Note that unlike English, double negatives are acceptable in Spanish.
No camina nadie.
Nobody walks.Él no come nunca.
He never eats.Juan no baila tampoco .
Juan doesn't dance either.
Sometimes, three negative words occur in the same sentence.
No compro nada nunca.
I never buy anything.Él no compra nada tampoco.
He doesn't buy anything either.
Unlike English, Spanish does not normally mix negative and affirmative words.
English
Maria doesn't need anything.
NOT Maria doesn't need nothing.Spanish
María no necesita nada.
NOT María no necesita algo.
Alguno and ninguno drop the -o before a masculine singular noun.
¿Tienes algún cuaderno?
No, no tengo ningún cuaderno.
Ninguno(-a) is generally used in the singular.
¿Tienes algunas revistas?
No, no tengo ninguna.¿Tienes algunos libros?
No, no tengo ninguno.
The plural of ninguno(-a) is used only when the noun it modifies exists only in plural, or is normally used in plural.
Ningunas vacaciones a Alaska son completas sin una excursión a Mt. McKinley.
No vacation to Alaska is complete without a trip to Mt. McKinley.
In this example "ningunas" is used because "vacaciones" is normally used in plural form.
