Spanish Negation (Including Key Negative Words and the Double Negative)

Nunca quieres nada de sopa. (You never want any soup). Yes, that’s a double negative in Spanish, and it’s grammatically correct.

Forming negative sentences is a crucial skill in any language, one you'll probably use every day. Below is a list of the most essential Spanish negation words, with many examples in context. You'll also discover how to create Spanish double negatives, as well as triple and quadruple negatives.

How to Use Spanish Negation

English and Spanish have many common rules, but their differences are often more noticeable.

Negation is no different, and there are a few points to consider when learning about la negación en español (negation in Spanish). This mainly involves simple sentences and basic negation.

A very common method for making a sentence negative in Spanish is to simply add no before the verb:

Me gusta Polonia. (I like Poland.) → No me gusta Polonia. (I don’t like Poland.)

Queremos ir al cine. (We want to go to the cinema.) → No queremos ir al cine. (We don’t want to go to the cinema.)

Mis vecinos han traído regalos. (My neighbors have brought presents.) → Mis vecinos no han traído regalos. (My neighbors haven’t brought any presents.)

This rule also applies to questions:

¿Te apetecería venir? (Would you like to come?) → ¿No te apetecería venir? (Wouldn’t you like to come?)

¿Te acuerdas de Michael? (Do you remember Michael?) → ¿No te acuerdas de Michael? (Don’t you remember Michael?)

So, if you just remember to put no before the verb, you've mastered a large part of Spanish negation!

Main Spanish Negation Words

Every language has its own methods for negation. Spanish has many negation words, but here are the most essential ones.

No

Certainly the most crucial negation word, no is typically used to negate the verb and can also be used alone to answer questions.

No bebo café por la tarde. (I don’t drink coffee in the afternoon.)

María no vendrá a la fiesta. (María is not coming to the party.)

¿Quieres ir de compras? ¡No, no quiero! (Do you want to go shopping? No, I don’t!)

In the last example, notice no is used twice before the main verb. Unlike English, you don't use an auxiliary verb (e.g., don’t). This might be why Spanish speakers often prefer to just say no.

Nada

Nada means “nothing” or “anything,” and it's very common in Spanish negative sentences. Here are some examples:

No me apetece hacer nada hoy. (I don’t feel like doing anything today.)

Nada tiene sentido sin ti. (Nothing makes sense without you.)

Nada me gusta más que dar un paseo bajo la lluvia. (I don’t like anything more than going for a walk in the rain.)

Nadie

It means “no one,” “nobody,” or “anybody,” and it’s used when referring to people.

No hay nadie aquí. Vámonos. (There’s nobody here. Let’s go.)

Mi hermana no invitó a nadie a su boda. (My sister didn’t invite anybody to her wedding.)

Nadie sabe más que tú. (Nobody knows more than you do.)

Ningún/-o/-a/-os/-as

Meaning “none,” “(not) any,” “no one,” or “anyone,” these negative words (except for ningún and ninguno ) can act as both adjectives and pronouns, depending on whether a noun follows them.

Ningún and ninguno have the same meaning but are used differently. Ningún is always followed by a masculine noun, while ninguno is always a pronoun and isn't followed immediately by a noun.

Look at these sentences:

No me gusta ningún libro. (I don’t like any book.)

No me gusta ninguno. (I don’t like any [of them].)

Here are some examples with the other forms:

Ninguna de estas pizzas tiene aceitunas. (None of these pizzas has olives.)

No tengo ningunos problemas. (I don’t have any problems.)

Ningunas noticias fueron buenas. (None of the news was good.)

Note that the plural forms ( ningunos, ningunas ), shown in the second and third examples, are becoming less common in everyday Spanish. We usually use ningún / ninguna with a singular noun to refer to an entire group. For example: No tengo ningún problema. )

Nunca / Jamás

Nunca and jamás both mean “never” or “(not) ever.” They are interchangeable, though jamás is often a bit more emphatic than nunca:

Nunca había visto a un chico tan guapo en mi vida. (I had never in my life seen such a handsome guy.)

Mis hermanos nunca ven la tele. (My brothers never watch TV.)

Jamás pensé que llegarías a ser presidente. ¡Estoy más orgulloso que nunca! (I would have never thought you would become president. I am prouder than ever!).

Jamás les des de comer a los elefantes. (Never feed the elephants. / Do not ever feed the elephants.)

For even more emphasis, you can use them together in a sentence:

Nunca jamás dejaré de amarte. (I will never ever stop loving you.)

¡No me vuelvas a mentir nunca jamás! (Don’t lie to me ever again!)

Ni

By itself, ni means “(not) even,” but it's also common to see the pair ni…ni, meaning “neither…nor.” Look at these examples:

No quiero ni té ni café. Prefiero beber agua. (I want neither tea nor coffee. I prefer drinking water.)

Ni les gusta ni lo necesitan. (They neither like it nor need it.)

Pasó de largo y ni me miró. (He walked by and didn’t even look at me..)

¡Ni me toques! (Don’t even touch me! – Much stronger than ¡No me toques! )

Tampoco

Tampoco means “also not,” “(not) either,” “neither,” and can even mean “too” in a negative context. It serves as the negative counterpart to también (“too”/”as well”).

Avoid the common error of saying también no instead of using tampoco!

No tengo ninguna prisa tampoco. (I am not in any hurry either.)

Tu ordenador no funciona. El mío tampoco. (Your computer doesn’t work. Neither does mine.)

¿Tampoco pudiste ir a la fiesta? (You couldn’t go to the party either?)

Yo tampoco tengo nada que decir. (I, too, have nothing to say.)

Notice that you can combine ni with tampoco to strengthen the negation:

Mis vecinos no son amables ni tampoco serviciales. (My neighbors are neither nice nor helpful.)

Todavía no

It means "not yet," but its usage in Spanish is a bit different. You can use todavía no or no…todavía, and you typically start a sentence with one word from this pair. Look at these examples:

Todavía no he terminado de escribir el ensayo. (I haven’t finished writing the essay yet.)

No hemos llegado a Barcelona todavía. (We haven’t arrived in Barcelona yet.)

¿Habéis leído el libro? ¡Todavía no! (Have you read the book? Not yet!)

Ya no

This final negative word means “(no) longer” or “(not) anymore.” It usually comes before the verb and can be separated and inverted ( no…ya ), though this is less common than using ya no.

Ya no te quiero porque eres infiel. (I no longer love you because you are unfaithful.)

No podemos entregarlo ya. Es muy tarde. (We no longer can hand it in. It is too late.)

¿Todavía vives en Madrid? / No, ya no. (Are you still living in Madrid? / No, not anymore.)

All these words can be used alone or combined. In Spanish, using double or triple negation is perfectly fine, which we'll explore next.

Spanish Double Negatives

Double negatives are very common and completely acceptable in Spanish! In fact, most of the time (except when we only use the negative word no) you'll encounter a double negative in a Spanish negative sentence.

You could use just one negative word at the start of the sentence and avoid using no, but this is a very marked style and we usually avoid it unless necessary.

There are even times in Spanish when the word no isn't required, and you can form double negatives using other negative words.

But generally, the rule for Spanish double negatives is straightforward: Place the word no before the verb, and then use a second negative word later in the sentence:

No como pasta nunca. (I never eat pasta.)

¿No te gusta tomar nada con el almuerzo? (Don’t you like to drink anything with lunch?)

No he visto a nadie desde que llegué. (I haven’t seen anyone since I arrived.)

As mentioned before, you can have double negatives without using the word no. In this case, another negative word will always begin the sentence:

Nadie dice nada. (Nobody says anything.)

Ninguno de estos libros es para nadie. (None of these books is for anybody.)

Nunca vemos a nadie en esta zona. (We never see anyone in this area.)

Just remember these two key points:

• If you place no before a verb, other negative words must come after the verb:

No quiero nada. (I don’t want anything.) — not no nada quiero.

• If you start a sentence with a negative word other than no, you cannot use no in that same sentence!

Nadie sabe nada. (Nobody knows anything.) — not nadie no sabe nada.

Spanish Triple and Quadruple Negatives

Yes indeed! Spanish even allows triple negatives! Of course, there's often a simpler way to express the same idea, but it's useful to know how triple negation works.

The rules for triple negation are the same as for double negation:

No + verb + negation word + negation word , or

Negation word + (negation word) + (negation word) + verb + (negation word) + (negation word).

No bebemos nunca nada. (We never drink anything.)

Ellos tampoco beben nunca nada. (They never drink anything either.)

No quiero decirle nada a nadie. (I don’t want to say anything to anybody.)

You can even use a quadruple negation in certain contexts.

This type of "mega negative" sentence isn't very common in Spanish, but you can be proud of your Spanish level if you master the art of quadruple negation.

Ellos no necesitan nada de nadie nunca. (They never need anything from anybody.)

Nadie nunca va a ningún lugar tampoco. (Nobody ever goes anywhere either.)

Would you like to see a sentence with 5 negative words?

Mi hermana no acepta nunca nada de nadie tampoco. (My sister never accepts anything from anybody ever either.)

Common Phrases Using Spanish Negation

Here are some common Spanish phrases using negation that may come in handy!

Now that you've learned all the ways to use negation in Spanish, I encourage you to practice them daily.

Walk into an empty room and say “No hay nadie aquí” (There’s no one here). Or discuss what you don't like with your language partner. Or find videos on Lingflix that use negation and practice by reading along with the subtitles. Lingflix takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons. You can try Lingflix for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app. P.S. If you decide to sign up now, you can take advantage of our current sale!

With some review and practice, you'll master negation. But remember to be positive sometimes too!