Table of Contents

• The Golden Rule: Just Add "No"
  • What About Pronouns?
• The Negative Family: Beyond Just "No"
• The Double Negative: A Feature, Not a Bug!
  • Structure 1: Negative Word Before the Verb
  • Structure 2: "No" + Verb + Negative Word
  • Let's Practice!
• A Quick Look at "Ninguno" and "Tampoco"
  • Ninguno / Ninguna / Ningún
  • Tampoco
• You've Mastered Negation!

How to Form Negative Sentences in Spanish: The Complete Guide

Feeling positive about your Spanish journey? That's fantastic! But what happens when you need to say you don't like something, you've never been somewhere, or you have nothing to wear?

Welcome to the world of Spanish negation!

It might sound complicated, but forming negative sentences in Spanish is surprisingly straightforward. In fact, once you learn one golden rule and a few key words, you'll be expressing disagreement, denial, and dislike like a native speaker.

Ready to embrace the power of "no"? Let's dive in.

The Golden Rule: Just Add "No"

The simplest way to make a positive sentence negative is to add one tiny, two-letter word: no.

The magic formula is simple: place no directly before the main conjugated verb.

Let's see it in action.

That's it! You just place no in front of the action word.

• Tú corresyou run en el parque. -> Tú no corres en el parque. (You run in the park. -> You don't run in the park.)
• Ellos cocinanthey are cooking la cena. -> Ellos no cocinan la cena. (They are cooking dinner. -> They aren't cooking dinner.)

What About Pronouns?

If you have a pronoun (like me, te, se, lo, la, le), the no comes even before that.

The order is: no + pronoun + verb

• Él se levanta temprano. (He gets up early.) -> Él no se levanta temprano. (He doesn't get up early.)
• Yo lo sé. (I know it.) -> Yo no lo sé. (I don't know it.)

Time for a quick check!

The Negative Family: Beyond Just "No"

While no is the star of the show, Spanish has a whole squad of negative words that add more specific meaning, just like "never," "nobody," and "nothing" in English.

Here are the most common ones you'll meet:

Spanish Negative Word	English Meaning
nada	nothing, not anything
nadie	nobody, no one
nunca / jamás	never
ninguno/a/os/as	none, not any
tampoco	neither, not either
ni... ni...	neither... nor...

Using these words is where Spanish grammar shows off one of its coolest (and most confusing for English speakers) features: the double negative.

The Double Negative: A Feature, Not a Bug!

In English class, you were probably told that double negatives are a big no-no. "I don't know nothing" is considered incorrect.

In Spanish, forget that rule entirely. Double negatives are not only correct, they are often required.

You have two basic structures for using these negative words:

Structure 1: Negative Word Before the Verb

If the negative word (nadie, nunca, nada) comes before the verb, you do NOT use no.

• Nadienobody sabe la respuesta. (Nobody knows the answer.)
• Nadanothing es imposible. (Nothing is impossible.)
• Nuncanever voy al gimnasio. (I never go to the gym.)

Structure 2: "No" + Verb + Negative Word

This is the famous double negative! If the negative word comes after the verb, you MUST add no before the verb. Both sentences mean the exact same thing as the ones above.

• No sabe la respuesta nadienobody.
• No es imposible nadanothing.
• No voy al gimnasio nuncanever.

Both sentences above correctly mean "Nobody called me." The second option is often more common in everyday speech.

Let's Practice!

Ready to build some negative sentences? Unscramble the words below to form a correct sentence.

A Quick Look at "Ninguno" and "Tampoco"

These two have some special quirks.

Ninguno / Ninguna / Ningún

Ninguno means "none" or "not any." It has to agree in gender with the noun it refers to.

• ¿Tienes una plumapen? -> No, no tengo ninguna. (No, I don't have any.)

Crucially, when ninguno comes before a masculine, singular noun, it shortens to ningún.

• No tengo ningún problemaproblem. (I don't have any problem.)
• INCORRECT: No tengo ninguno problema. ❌

Tampoco

Tampoco means "neither" or "not either." It's the negative counterpart to también (also, too).

• A: No me gusta el brócoli. (I don't like broccoli.)
• B: A mí tampoco. (Me neither.)

You've Mastered Negation!

Let's do a quick recap:

1. The Basic: Place no directly before the main verb.
2. The Vocabulary: Learn the main negative words: nada, nadie, nunca, ninguno, tampoco.
3. The Double Negative: It's your friend! If a negative word comes after the verb, you must use no before the verb.

That’s all there is to it. You’ve just unlocked a huge part of Spanish conversation. Now you can not only share your passions and loves, but also your dislikes and denials. ¡No es tan difícil! (It's not so difficult!)