CONTENT
  1. Spanish Negative Words
  2. How to Form Negative Sentences
  3. Double Negatives
  4. Ni ... ni

Negatives are words that will help you to deny or reject something. The most common way to make a negation in Spanish is to add no before a verb. However, in this article, you will learn some of the other popular negative words used in Spanish. You will also learn more about double negatives.

Spanish

English

No duermas tarde.

Don't sleep late.

Nunca duermas tarde.

Never sleep late.

Spanish Negative Words

Rule 1. Here is a list of other negative words commonly used by Spanish speakers:

Negative WordTranslation
no no
nadie no one
nada nothing
jamás ever
nunca never
tampoco also/neither
Negative WordTranslation
no no
nadie no one
nada nothing
jamás ever
nunca never
tampoco also/neither

Spanish

English

Él nunca quiere ver esta película.

No one wants to see this movie.

How to Form Negative Sentences

Rule 2. In negative sentences, the usual order (except when there are direct and indirect object pronouns) of the elements is the following :

subject + negative word+ verb
subject + negative word+ verb

Spanish

English

Tú jamás tomas agua, te va a hacer daño.

You never drink water, it will hurt you.

Rule 3. When there are direct and indirect object pronouns, the negative word always comes before the pronoun.

Spanish

English

Jamás le digas a Erica lo que te acabo de decir.

Don't ever tell Erica what I just told you.

Double Negatives

Rule 4. Unlike other languages such as English, in Spanish, it is very common and normal to use double negatives. This serves to emphasize the negation.

Rule 5. To create a double negative, simply follow the form below:

no+ verb + negative word + complement
no+ verb + negative word + complement

Spanish

English

No comas jamás en ese restaurante, simple me enfermo.

Don't ever eat at that restaurant, it makes me sick.

No visitemos nunca ese lugar.

Let's never visit that place.

Rule 6. It is also common, particularly in spoken settings, to move the negative word to the end of the sentence.

Spanish

English

No visitemos ese lugar nunca.

Let's never visit that place.

Ni ... ni

Rule 7. The negative ni...ni follows a different pattern. To form a double negative with this combination, you need this structure:

no + verb + ni + option 1 + ni + option two
no + verb + ni + option 1 + ni + option two

Spanish

English

No visitemos ni este lugar ni el otro.

Let us visit neither this place nor the other.

Quiz

1/3

Tú ______________ (neither) eres muy honesto.

0

correct answers.