No and Negation Words in Spanish

No and Negation Words in Spanish Changing a Spanish sentence to a negative can be as easy as placing no before the main verb. Spanish is different than English in that Spanish can require the use of the double negative under some circumstances. No as an Adjective or Adverb In Spanish, the most common negative word is no, which can be used as an adverb or adjective. As an adverb negating a sentence, it always comes immediately before the verb, unless the verb is preceded by an object, in which case it comes immediately before the object. No como. (I am not eating.) No quiere ir al centro. (She doesnt want to go downtown.) No lo quiero. (I dont want it.)  ¿No te gusta la bicicleta? (Dont you like the bicycle?) When no is used as an adjective, or as an adverb modifying an adjective or another adverb, it typically is the equivalent of the English not or of a prefix such as non. In those cases, it comes immediately before the word it modifies. Note that while no is sometimes used to mean not in this way, this use isnt terribly common, and usually other words or sentence constructions are used. El senador est por la polà ­tica de la no violencia. (The senator is for the policy of nonviolence.) Tiene dos computadoras no usadas. (He has two unused computers.) Mi hermano es poco inteligente. (My brother is unintelligent.) Ese doctor es sin principios. (That doctor is unprincipled.) Other Negating Words Spanish also has several negative words that are frequently used. They include nada (nothing), nadie (nobody, no one), ninguno (none), nunca (never), and jams (never). Ninguno, depending on its usage, also comes in the forms ningà ºn, ninguna, ningunos and ningunas, although the plural forms are seldom used. Nada vale tanto como el amor. (Nothing is worth as much as love.) Nadie quiere salir. (Nobody wants to leave.) Ninguna casa tiene ms televisores que la mà ­a. (No house has more televisions than mine.) Nunca bebemos la cerveza. (We never drink beer). Jams te veo. (I never see you.) One aspect of Spanish that may seem unusual to English speakers is the use of the double negative. If one of the negative words listed above (such as nada or nadie) is used after the verb, a negative (often no) also must be used before the verb. Such usage is not considered redundant. When translating to English, you shouldnt translate both negatives as negatives. No sà © nada. (I dont know anything, or I know nothing.) No conozco a nadie. (I dont know anybody, or I know nobody.) A nadie le importa nada. (Nothing matters to anybody.)