![]() Many Spanish sentences that use negative words involve the use of double negatives. (I want a hamburger without mayonnaise.) The Spanish Double Negative (“Sin” is pecado, if you were curious.) Sin in Spanish simply means “without.” This false friend has nothing to do with acts against God. Use it to agree with someone, but when speaking in the negative. Tampoco is the opposite of the word también. Take, for example, the Spanish proverb Lo olvidado, ni agradecido ni pagado (Forgotten things, neither appreciated nor repaid). The Spanish word ni on its own means something like the English “not even.” But a sentence with two instances of the word ni usually means “neither…nor.” ![]() (I’ll never, ever go back to his house.) 15. For extra emphasis, you can use them together: nunca jamás (never ever). Nunca, jamásīoth of these words, nunca and jamás, separately mean “never” in Spanish. (I don’t have any glasses with that shape.) We don’t use them with actual plural nouns, but with special plural nouns which have a singular meaning, in emphatic negative sentences or with expressive plurals: Ningunos and ningunas are especially tricky. As with algún, don’t use articles (el, la, los, las). Note here that ningún is used before masculine singular nouns. Like with algún or todo, you can also use ningún, ninguna, ningunos and ningunas along with other nouns. To express the general concepts “none,” “no more” and “any more,” use ninguno. ( Nobody likes the food at that restaurant.) 13. The opposite of alguien, nadie is used exclusively to refer to people.Ī nadie le gusta la comida de ese restaurante. Use this verb as you’d use algo, but in the negative form. (Do you want to come with me? No, thanks.) When used before a verb, no signals that the verb is negative, just like the English word “don’t.” When used as a response to a question or request, no means “no” just like in English. (Marta is going to go out with me.) Spanish Negative Words 10. Note that con has three special forms: contigo (with you), conmigo (with me) and consigo (with him/her/them). You can use con with a name or with a noun. ( Either we go to the supermarket before 9:00, or we’ll have to eat dinner out.) 8. O vamos al supermercado antes de las 9 o tendremos que cenar fuera de casa. The word o by itself means “or.” But when you have a sentence that uses the word o twice, the first o frequently means “either” and the second means “or.” However, siempre and a few others come before the verb. ![]() In Spanish, most adverbs of frequency come after the verb. For example, to say “I’m waiting for Luis,” you’d say “Estoy esperando a Luis.” To speak more generally, you could say “Estoy esperando a alguien” (I’m waiting for somebody). Grammatically, use alguien in a sentence in the same way that you’d use somebody’s name. Note that with algún and its variants, you shouldn’t use the article (el, la, los, las) before the noun.Īlguien is a similar word to algo, except it specifically refers to people. Like todo, it can refer to people or objects. This word works grammatically just like todo, but instead of meaning “all” it means “some.” ¿Quieres algo? (Do you want something/ anything?) 4. When the noun that you’re referring to is already known, you can simply use todo, toda, todos or todas. Todas las mochilas ( all of the backpacks) Just make sure to correctly match the gender and number! Todo and its variants can refer to people or objects. For example: If you want to talk about all of a specific thing, use todo, toda, todos or todas, plus the corresponding article el ![]() Use the word todo to refer to the general concept of “everything” or “all.” Make sure to include the accent mark above the i. Otherwise, you’ll end up with the word si (if).Įnglish meanings: All, everything, entire This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that youĬlick here to get a copy. Useful Spanish Expressions Using Affirmative and Negative Words.Read on for a run-down of Spanish affirmative and negative words you need to speak Spanish well, plus some related useful phrases! Those two little words can get you pretty far in the Spanish-speaking world!īut sí and no are only two of a long list of useful affirmative and negative Spanish words, such as with and without, anybody and nobody and many others. I’m willing to bet that sí (yes) and no (no) were among the first ten words you learned in Spanish. 31 Essential Affirmative and Negative Words and Phrases in Spanish
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