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Negative sentences (las oraciones negativas) are most often formed by placing the adverb “no” before the verb.

Basic structure: Subject + « no » + verb + Direct Object Complement + Indirect Object Complement :

• Alejandro come una manzana (Alejandro is eating an apple)
• Negation → Alejandro no come una manzana (Alejandro does not eat an apple)
• Maya sabe leer y escribir (Maya can read and write)
• Negation → Maya no sabe leer y escribir (Maya can’t read and write)
• Isabella y Javier trabajan todos los días en el mismo restaurante (Isabella and Javier work in the same restaurant every day)
• Negation → Isabella y Javier no trabajan todos los días en el mismo restaurante (Isabella and Javier do not work every day in the same restaurant)
• Mateo pone un chaleco a su hijo para que no tenga frío (Mateo puts a vest on his son so he doesn’t get cold)
• Negation → Mateo no pone un chaleco a su hijo (Mateo does not put a vest on his son)
• A Liliana le gusta hacer bicicleta (Liliana likes to ride her bike)
• Negation → A Liliana no le gusta hacer bicicleta (Liliana does not like to ride a bike)

⚠️ The order of the words in the sentence is changed when the object complement is replaced by a pronoun.

New structure: Subject + « no » + pronoun Indirect Object Complement+ pronoun Direct Object Complement + verb

• Elena da frutas a su hija (Elena gives fruit to her daughter)

If we modify this sentence so that the object complement is replaced by a pronoun, it gives :

• Elena le da frutas (Elena gives her fruit)

And the negation is therefore :

• Elena no le da frutas (Elena doesn’t give her fruit)

Same reasoning in the plural:

• María no da frutas a sus hijas (María does not give fruit to her daughters)
• Negation → María no les da frutas (María doesn’t give them fruit)

⚠️ If the Indirect Object Complement pronoun« le » or « les » is immediately followed by « la », « lo », « los » or « las », it’s replaced by « se » :

• Paola no les da frutas (Paola does not give them fruit) → « Paola no « les – los » da frutas » which we replace by « Paola no se los da frutas » (Paola does not give them fruit)

How to make a double negation in Spanish?

It is possible to emphasize the negation of a sentence by adding words like “never”, “nothing”, etc. In Spanish, the following structure should be used:

« no » + verb + words with a negative value :

• Juan no sabe tampoco cantar (Juan can’t sing either)
• Salma no quiere comer ní frutas ní verduras (Salma does not want to eat fruits or vegetables)
• Alicia no lleva nunca botas (Alicia never wears boots)
• Lorenzo no encuentra a nadie en el parque (Lorenzo does not meet anyone in the park)

In some cases, it is possible to use certain negative words directly before the verb without using “no”:

• Emiliano no sabe tampoco cantar → Emiliano tampoco sabe cantar (Raúl can’t sing either)
• Alicia no lleva nunca botas → Alicia nunca lleva botas (Alicia never wears boots)

– Have you finished studying this lesson? Practice! –

👉 Next lesson: To be: Ser vs Estar

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Tags: Grammar