Spanish Grammar in Context

A reference grammar with video examples from the Spanish in Texas collection

  • Credits
  • Index
  • About
  • Home
  • Adjectives
    • Introduction to Adjectives
    • Adjectives – Formation and Placement
    • Comparisons and Superlatives with Adjectives
    • Past Participles as Adjectives
    • Todo
    • Indefinite Adjectives
    • Adjectives Practice
  • Adverbs
    • Introduction to Adverbs
    • Adverbs – Formation and Placement
    • Comparative Adverbs
    • Adverbs Practice
  • Conjunctions
    • Introduction to Conjunctions
    • Coordinating Conjunctions
    • Subordinating Conjunctions
    • Conjunctions Practice
  • Determiners
    • Introduction to Determiners
    • Definite Articles
    • Indefinite Articles
    • Possessive Determiners
    • Demonstrative Determiners
    • Expressions of Quantity
    • Determiners Practice
  • Negation
    • Introduction to Negation
    • Basic Negation: No
    • Alternate Forms of Negation
    • One-word Negative Sentences
    • Negation Practice
  • Nouns
    • Introduction to Nouns
    • Nouns – Number
    • Nouns – Gender
    • Nouns Practice
  • Prepositions
    • Introduction to Prepositions
    • Common Prepositions
    • Por vs. Para
    • Prepositions Practice
  • Pronouns
    • Introduction to Pronouns
    • Subject Pronouns
    • Direct Object Pronouns
    • Indirect Object Pronouns
    • Reflexive Pronouns
    • Order of Object Pronouns
    • Relative Pronouns
    • Indefinite Pronouns
    • Demonstrative Pronouns
    • Possessive Pronouns
    • Pronouns Practice
  • Verbs
    • Introduction to Verbs
    • Tense/Mood
    • Introduction to Present Tense
      • -ar Verbs (Regular) Present Tense
      • -er Verbs (Regular) Present Tense
      • -ir Verbs (Regular) Present Tense
    • Ser “To Be”
    • Haber “To Have”
    • Reflexive Verbs
    • Preterit
    • Present Perfect
    • Imperfect
    • Narration: Preterit vs. Imperfect
    • Pluperfect
    • Future
    • Conditional
    • Past Conditional
    • Imperative Mood (commands)
    • Introduction to Subjunctive
      • Subjunctive – Present
      • Subjunctive – Past or Imperfect
      • Subjunctive – Present Perfect
      • Subjunctive – Pluperfect
      • Tense Sequences
    • Si Clauses (If Clauses)
    • Indirect Speech
      • Indirect Speech – Present
      • Indirect Speech – Past
    • Passive Voice
    • Language Contact
    • Verbs Practice
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Practice quizzes: negation

Introduction to Negation

negation

Negation from the Spanish in Texas Corpus

Negation is a grammatical term for the contradiction of some or all of the meaning of an affirmative (positive) sentence. In English, a sentence is commonly negated by inserting a single negative word (not, don’t, didn’t, won’t, etc.) into the appropriate place in the sentence. In Spanish, a sentence can be negated by inserting one or two words.

Basic Negation

To negate an affirmative sentence, no is placed before the conjugated verb. Donde yo me crecí, no había televisión.
Where I grew up, there was not television.

Alternate Forms of Negation

There are many other Spanish words and expressions that can be used to negate a positive statement besides the basic form no, such as nunca, nadie, jamás, ningún, etc. These negative words can be used to contradict the verb as well as other parts of a sentence. The following example uses nunca to negate the first clause and no to negate the second. Nunca teníamos radio, o sea, no escuchaba noticias.
We never had radio, in other words, I didn’t hear the news.

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