In English we cannot use Double Negatives:
| *I don't see nobody. | *He never does nothing in the afternoons. |
However, in Spanish we can use double negatives:
| No veo a nadie. | Nunca hace nada por las tardes. |
| Indefinite & Affirmative | Negative | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Siempre A veces |
Always Sometimes |
Nunca, jamás | never, (never) ever |
También Yo también a mí también |
Also positive
I as well me too |
tampoco a mí tampoco |
Neither/also negative
Me neither |
| Alguien | Someone, somebody, anyone | Nadie | no one, nobody |
| Algo | Something, anything | nada | nothing |
| O.... o... | Either... or... | Ni.... ni... | Neither... nor... |
Alguno (noun) Algún, Alguna, Algunos, Algunas (Adj.) |
Some | Ninguno (noun) Ningún, Ninguna (adj.) (no plural forms) |
Not one (none) |
Making Negative Statements
1. We need to negate the verb.
We can do that by using a negative word in front of the verb:
Nunca estudio el francés. I never study French. Yo tampoco lo estudio. I don’t study it either. Nadie estudia el francés. No one studies French. No lo estudiamos. We don’t study it. Ni estudia el francés ni el alemán. He studies neither French nor German.
2. We can negate the verb using "no" and add additional negative words:
¿Compraste algo en la librería? |
Did you buy something/anything at the bookstore? |
| Hoy no compré nada. | I didn’t buy anything today. |
| ¿Hay alguien en la sala de clase? | Is there anyone/someone in the classroom? |
| No, no hay nadie. | No, there is no one / there isn’t anyone. |
| ¿Hay algunas frutas en casa? | Are there some/any fruits (Is there any fruit) at home? |
| No, no hay ninguna. | Nope, there aren't any (there isn't a single piece of fruit, not one.) |
Alguien and nadie refer to a person
So when they are direct objects, they will also need an Personal A.
| ¿Conoces a alguien en esta fiesta? | Do you know anyone at this party? |
| No, no conozco a nadie. | No, I don't know anyone [literally, "I don't know nobody"] |