Negation

How negation works in English

In English, negation is added with not (or the contraction n’t) placed after the auxiliary verb.

If there is no auxiliary verb, do/does/did is added as a support verb.

Statement	Negation	Method
She is here.	She is not / isn’t here.	not after auxiliary
He can come.	He cannot / can’t come.	not after modal
They are working.	They are not / aren’t working.	not after auxiliary
She eats rice.	She does not / doesn’t eat rice.	do-support + not
He works here.	He does not / doesn’t work here.	do-support + not
They left early.	They did not / didn’t leave early.	do-support + not
I have a plan.	I do not / don’t have a plan.	do-support + not
We need help.	We do not / don’t need help.	do-support + not
She called me.	She did not / didn’t call me.	do-support + not
You want coffee.	You do not / don’t want coffee.	do-support + not

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Double negatives in English

In standard English, double negatives cancel out and are considered incorrect:

• I don’t know nothing. → considered non-standard / incorrect

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How Spanish handles negation differently

Key difference: no goes directly before the verb

Spanish negation is simpler than English — no do-support needed. Just put no before the verb.

Structure: Subject + no + verb (+ rest of sentence)

Statement	Negation	English
Ella come arroz.	Ella no come arroz.	She doesn’t eat rice.
Él trabaja aquí.	Él no trabaja aquí.	He doesn’t work here.
Yo sé la respuesta.	Yo no sé la respuesta.	I don’t know the answer.
Tú hablas español.	Tú no hablas español.	You don’t speak Spanish.
Ellos llegaron ayer.	Ellos no llegaron ayer.	They didn’t arrive yesterday.
Ella es doctora.	Ella no es doctora.	She isn’t a doctor.
Yo tengo tiempo.	Yo no tengo tiempo.	I don’t have time.
Nosotros entendemos.	Nosotros no entendemos.	We don’t understand.
Él puede venir.	Él no puede venir.	He can’t come.
Tú estás bien.	Tú no estás bien.	You’re not okay.

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Double negatives are required in Spanish

This is the opposite of English. In Spanish, if you use a negative word (nothing, nobody, never), you must also use no before the verb.

Negative word	Spanish	English equivalent
nada	nothing / not anything	nothing
nadie	nobody / not anybody	nobody
nunca / jamás	never / not ever	never
ningún/ninguna	none / no (adjective)	none
tampoco	neither / not either	neither
ni…ni	neither…nor	neither…nor

Double negative examples

Spanish	Word-by-word	English
No sé nada.	not I-know nothing	I don’t know anything.
No hay nadie aquí.	not there-is nobody here	There’s nobody here.
No lo hago nunca.	not it I-do never	I never do it.
No tengo ningún plan.	not I-have no plan	I don’t have any plan.
No me gusta tampoco.	not me it-pleases neither	I don’t like it either.
No quiero ni café ni té.	not I-want neither coffee nor tea	I want neither coffee nor tea.
No habla nadie.	not speaks nobody	Nobody is speaking.
No compré nada.	not I-bought nothing	I didn’t buy anything.
No vino nunca.	not came never	He never came.
No tiene ninguna idea.	not has no idea	He has no idea.

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Negative words can go before the verb (no no needed then)

If the negative word comes before the verb, you don’t need no.

With no (negative word after verb)	Without no (negative word before verb)	English
No sé nada.	Nada sé.	I know nothing.
No viene nadie.	Nadie viene.	Nobody is coming.
No lo hago nunca.	Nunca lo hago.	I never do it.
No tengo ningún plan.	Ningún plan tengo.	I have no plan.

Both forms are correct. The no + verb + negative-word pattern is far more common in everyday speech.

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Negating with pronouns

When the sentence has an object pronoun, no goes before the pronoun (which sits before the verb).

Statement	Negation	English
Lo veo.	No lo veo.	I don’t see him/it.
Te llamo.	No te llamo.	I won’t call you.
La compro.	No la compro.	I won’t buy it.
Nos invitan.	No nos invitan.	They don’t invite us.
Se lo digo.	No se lo digo.	I won’t tell him/her.

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Common mistakes

• ❌ Ella no come no arroz. → ✅ Ella no come arroz. — only one no for a simple negative
• ❌ No sé nada. thinking it’s a double negative error → ✅ this is correct in Spanish; double negatives are required
• ❌ Nunca no lo hago. → ✅ No lo hago nunca. OR Nunca lo hago. — not both
• ❌ Placing no after the verb → ✅ no always goes before the verb

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Summary

• Place no directly before the verb — no do-support needed
• Negative words (nada, nadie, nunca, etc.) require no before the verb when they follow it
• If a negative word comes before the verb, no is dropped
• With pronouns: no + pronoun + verb

See also: Questions — combining negation with question words.
See also: Basic Syntax — word order fundamentals.