Negativos
We can make sentences negative in Spanish by simply putting "no" before the verb.
Juan no habla inglés.
There are some additional expressions to make sentences negative in Spanish as well. Look at the affirmative sentence and then see if you can guess the meaning of the negative ones.
| Siempre estudio. | No estudio nunca. |
| Alguien estudia mucho. | Nadie estudia mucho. |
| ¿Estudias algo? | No, no estudio nada. |
| También habla francés. | Tampoco habla francés. |
| ¿Tienes algunos libros? | No tengo ningunos libros. |
See if you know the meanings of the words and then we will talk more about their use.
| Siempre | Always | Nunca (no...nunca) | Never |
| Alguien | Someone | Nadie | No one |
| Algo | Something | No...nada | Nothing |
| También | Also | Tampoco | Neither |
| Alguno | Some | Ninguno | No |
Nunca can be used in two ways, which you see in the above example. Some of the expressions appear to be a "double negative" and that is the way they are used in Spanish. In the case of "nada," for example, the "no" and "nada" are both needed to get the "nothing" idea.
