In Spanish, double negation requires placing one negative word before the verb and another after the verb. For example, imagine hearing this conversation in Spanish:
- Di algo. (Say something.)
- No tengo nada que decir. (I don’t have anything to say.)
Did you notice the two negative words in the same sentence – both no and nada (nothing)? This is an example of double negation, which is used when making negative statements in Spanish. I know it’s different from English, but using the double negation will make your Spanish sound a lot more natural. Keep reading to learn about it. ¡No tienes nada que perder! (You have nothing to lose!)
(Did you see what I did there?)
Table of Contents
What are the types of negative words in Spanish?
There are three types of negative words in Spanish: adverbs of denial, negative indefinite pronouns, and adjectives.
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Adverbs of denial
Here we can include no (no, not), which is the most common negative word in Spanish. But we can also include ni (nor), ni siquiera (not even), nunca (never), jamás (never, ever), nunca jamás (never again, never ever), and tampoco (neither, either). Let’s see some examples:No quiero café. I don’t want coffee.
Nunca he viajado a México. I have never traveled to Mexico.
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Quantity
Here we find the words nada (anything, nothing), nadie (nobody, no one, anybody, anyone), and ninguno/ninguna (none, no one). Let’s see a few examples:Nadie vino a la fiesta. No one came to the party.
Nada está bien. Nothing is right.
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Negative indefinite adjectives
The only one is ningún (not any, no) with its feminine variant ninguna. Unlike the pronouns, these are always accompanied by a noun.Ningún estudiante entregó la tarea. No student turned in their homework.
Although the plural negative indefinite pronouns/adjectives ningunos and ningunas (none, no one) exist, they aren’t really used.
How to form simple negation in Spanish?
Simple negation in Spanish is usually made with the adverb no, which is always before the main verb:
No tengo hermanas.
I don’t have any sisters.
Ellos no trabajaron conmigo.
They didn’t work with me.
For the case of compound tenses (for example the progressive tenses or the perfect tenses), no goes before the auxiliary verb:
No estoy trabajando ahora.
I’m not working now.
No habré terminado a las cinco.
I won’t have finished by five.
It’s time for a little test. Look at the following sentence. What’s the mistake?
Tengo no idea.
I have no idea.
If you answered that the mistake is the position of no, that’s right! Remember we always place it before the main verb (for simple tenses) or the auxiliary verb (for compound tenses):
No tengo idea.
It’s also possible to make simple negations in Spanish with negative words other than no. In this case, these words are also placed before the verb.
With adverbs of denial:
Nunca volveré a una fiesta en esa casa.
I will never go back to a party in that house.
With negative indefinite pronouns:
Nadie me habló en la fiesta.
No one talked to me at the party.This type of negative sentence has a double negative equivalent, which is much more commonly used. Keep reading to find out!
How to form double negation in Spanish?
Similar to the simple negation, we can do it starting with no or a negative word different from no. The general rule is: one negative word goes before the verb and the other (or others) after the verb.
Let’s see each case in detail.
Double negation with no
One possibility we have is to use no with another adverb of denial in the same sentence:
no + conjugated verb (simple or compound tense) + adverb of denial
No volveré nunca a una fiesta en esa casa.
I will never go back to a party in that house.
In Spanish, only object pronouns (me, te, lo, la, le, etc…) and reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, etc…) can intervene between the negative word and the verb:
No me gusta el té ni el café.
I don’t like either tea or coffee.
The second possibility we have is to use no with a negative indefinite pronoun in the same sentence:
no + conjugated verb (simple or compound tense) + negative indefinite pronoun
No quiero nada de tomar.
I don’t want anything to drink.
No me habló nadie en la fiesta.
No one talked to me at the party.
¿No quieres nada de comer? You really don’t want anything to eat?
In this example, we’re expecting a negative confirmation; we expect the other person to confirm they actually don’t want anything to eat. The word no can also be used as a tag question at the end of a statement:Quieres algo de comer, ¿no? You want something to eat, don’t you?
In this second case, we’re expecting a positive confirmation: the other person will confirm they do want something to eat. Alternatively, we can use phrases like “de verdad” (really?) or “en serio” (seriously?) for the same purpose:¿De verdad / en serio no quieres nada de comer? You really / seriously don’t want anything to eat?
For more on forming questions, check out: “How to build questions in Spanish?”Finally, we can use no with the indefinite negative adjective ningún or ninguna plus a noun in the same sentence.
no + conjugated verb (simple or compound tense) + ningún/ninguna + noun
Juan no tiene ningún interés por la escuela.
Juan has no interest in school.
We could express these same ideas with the indefinite adjective alguno or alguna.
I know alguno and alguna have a positive meaning, but if you place them after a noun in a negative sentence, it will have a negative connotation:
| noun + alguno/alguna | ningún/ninguna + noun |
|---|---|
| Juan no tiene interés alguno por la escuela. Juan has no interest at all about school. | Juan no tiene ningún interés por la escuela. Juan has no interest in school. |
| María no tiene intención alguna de hacer la tarea. María has no intention at all to do the homework. | María no tiene ninguna intención de hacer la tarea. María has no intention to do the homework. |
You can use the indefinite adjectives ningún or ninguna to add emphasis:
| No tengo idea. I have no idea. | No tengo ninguna idea. I don’t have any idea |
Double negation with a negative word different from no
Just as the cases above, we can start a double negation with a negative word other than no:
negative word (different from no) + conjugated verb (simple or compound tense) + second negative word
Let’s see some examples:
Starting with an adverb of denial:
Nunca tengo ningún problema con mi computador.
I never have any problem with my computer.
Starting with a negative indefinite pronoun:
Nadie expresó ninguna queja.
No one expressed any complaint.
- Once you have a negative word before the verb, you can’t use an affirmative indefinite pronoun or adverb after the verb.
No quiero algo nada de beber.
I don’t want anything to drink. - If you start a sentence with a negative word different than no, then you can’t use no later within the same sentence:
Jamás no me dijo nada de eso.
He never told me anything about that. - Now, if you start a sentence with a negative word other than no, it’s possible to use no in a dependent clause:
Nadie me dijo que no viniera.
No one told me not to come.
Negative Spanish pronouns nada (nothing) and nadie (no one) can function as the subject or object of a sentence. Although in both cases single and double negation is possible, when used as an object it is more common to use the double negation.
| Single negation | Double negation | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Nada está bien. | No está bien nada. | |
| Nothing is right. | |||
| Nada está bien. | No está bien nada. | ||
| No one came to the meeting. | |||
| Object | Nada quiero. (less common) | No quiero nada. | |
| I don’t want anything. | |||
| A nadie vi en la reunión. (less common) | Novi a nadie en la reunión. | ||
| I didn’t see anyone at the meeting. | |||
How to form triple negation in Spanish?
- adverb of denial or negative indefinite pronoun + the phrase “nada a nadie”
Mi hermano nunca le cuenta nada a nadie. My brother doesn’t ever say anything to anyone.
- adverb of denial or negative indefinite pronoun + the phrase “nunca jamás”
No quiero verte nunca jamás. I don’t ever want to see you again.
- adverb of denial or negative indefinite pronoun + the phrase “nada a nadie”
Mi hermano nunca le cuenta nada a nadie. My brother doesn’t ever say anything to anyone.
- adverb of denial or negative indefinite pronoun + the phrase “nunca jamás”
No quiero verte nunca jamás. I don’t ever want to see you again.
⤷TIP The combination of the adverbs nunca (never) and jamás (ever) is very useful to reinforce the negation.
You can also use either of these adverbs with the phrases en la vida or en mi vida for the same purpose:
Nunca en la vida conocí a nadie tan valiente.
Never in my life had I met someone this brave.
Jamás en mi vida he dicho mentiras.
Never in my life have I told lies.
Summary
- Use no (or another negative word) before a conjugated verb.
- If you want to make a double negation, a negative word should be before the verb and a second one should be after the verb.
A dependent clause is a group of words that include a subject and a verb, but that doesn’t convey a full meaning on its own. For example: Cuando te llamé anoche (When I called you last night). If you hear this sentence, you don’t have the full information, you want to know what happened last night when the phone call took place, right?
Personal a is used to mark direct object nouns that are specific and human (sometimes pets too). Veo a María. (I see María.)
