Negatives

Not

The translation of not is no, which precedes the word it is negating:

•  he’s not o he isn’t at home = no está en casa
•  not one but two = no uno sino dos

Where the Spanish has a pronoun or pronouns preceding a verb, they are placed between no and the verb:

•  I didn’t see him = no lo vi
•  she didn’t give it to me = no me lo dio

Never, Nobody, No one, Nothing, Neither, No

Spanish uses the double negative structure of no + verb + negative:

•  he never comes o he doesn’t ever come = no viene nunca or jamás
•  nobody o no one spoke to him = no le habló nadie
•  there was nothing o there wasn’t anything in the box = no había nada en la caja
•  she speaks neither French nor German o she doesn’t speak (either) French or German = no habla ni francés ni alemán or no habla francés ni alemán
•  neither of them came = no vino ninguno de los dos
•  he paid no attention o he didn’t pay any attention = no prestó ninguna atención

The double negative is not used when a negative precedes a verb in Spanish:

•  he never comes = nunca or jamás viene
•  nobody o no one saw him = nadie lo vio
•  I liked nothing I saw o I didn't like anything I saw = nada de lo que vi me gustó
•  neither he nor his mother did it = ni él ni su madre lo hicieron
•  neither of them came = ninguno de los dos vino
•  no country has criticized him = ningún país lo ha criticado

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