📖LearnModule 2 · Lesson 11 of 30Basic User · CEFR A1, completedUnit 3 · No… and numbers to 100
No, nunca, nada — real negation
Module 2 of the free Spanish course (CEFR A1, completed), lesson 11 of 30: Spanish negation is one word in one place: no before the verb. On this page: 9 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
no hablo inglés
I do not speak English
noh AH-bloh een-GLEHS
no tenemos un carro
we do not have a car
noh teh-NEH-mohs oon KAH-rroh
nunca
never
NOON-kah
nada
nothing
NAH-dah
nadie
nobody
NAH-dyeh
tampoco
not either
tahm-POH-koh
siempre
always
SYEHM-preh
no como nada
I eat nothing
noh KOH-moh NAH-dah
no sé
I do not know
noh SEH
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
Spanish negation is one word in one place: no before the verb. No hablo inglés. No tenemos un carro. Now its friends: nunca (never), nada (nothing), nadie (nobody), tampoco (not either).
Y también · And also
The famous double negative is CORRECT Spanish: No como nada — literally "I do not eat nothing" — is the only way to say I eat nothing. No hay nadie. Keep the no, add the second word, and the sentence is right.
Ojo · Watch out
Two negatives are the rule, not a mistake: no tengo nada, no hay nadie. Drop the no only when nunca or nadie stands FIRST: nunca como pescado.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with no hablo inglés.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 11 in Module 2 are the written half of this page.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.