no before the verb

No trabajo hoy. No tengo tiempo. No vivo en Madrid. No hablo bien. No comes directly before the verb; nothing else in the sentence changes.

no also simply means no when it stands alone as an answer to a question.

nunca, nada and ni

Other important words for negative statements are nunca (never), nada (nothing) and ni (nor / neither ... nor). At A1 level, you will first get to know a few simple uses: Nunca trabajo los domingos. No tengo nada. No tengo hermanos ni hermanas.

Examples

  • No trabajo hoy.
  • No tengo tiempo.
  • Nunca trabajo los domingos.
  • No tengo hermanos ni hermanas.

Exercises

A1GrammarNegation with no

Exercise 1 of 7

Where does no go?

Choose the correctly negated sentence.

Hablas de ti. ¿Qué oración es correcta?

Choose one answer
A1GrammarNegation with no

Exercise 2 of 7

Affirmative or negative?

Sort each sentence into the right group.

Affirmative and negative sentences.

Trabajo hoy.
No trabajo hoy.
Tengo tiempo.
No tengo tiempo.
Vivo en Madrid.
No vivo en Madrid.
Tengo hermanos y hermanas.
No tengo hermanos ni hermanas.

affirmative

negative

A1GrammarNegation with no

Exercise 3 of 7

Say the opposite

Negate the sentence with no.

Trabajo hoy.

A1GrammarNegation with no

Exercise 4 of 7

Carlos is not working today

Drag the words into the correct order.

Say that Carlos is not working today.

A1GrammarNegation with no

Exercise 5 of 7

What does the word mean?

Match each word with its meaning.

Words for negation in Spanish.

A1GrammarNegation with no

Exercise 6 of 7

Is this negated correctly?

Correct the sentence.

Trabajo no hoy.

A1GrammarNegation with no

Exercise 7 of 7

Say you are not working today

Write a complete sentence.

Say that you are not working today: