Saying no: ne

Esperanto negates with one word, ne, placed directly in front of what you deny. Usually that is the verb:

• Mi ne komprenas. - I do not understand.
• Ŝi ne venos. - She will not come.
• Ili ne estas tie. - They are not there.

No do (I do not understand), no two-part negative like French ne...pas, no special negative verb form. The same ne is also no:

• Ĉu vi venos? Ne. - Will you come? No.

Where ne goes changes what you deny

Move ne and you move the denial. The same four words make three different claims:

English does this with stress (I didn't say THAT), which works aloud and vanishes on the page. Esperanto parks the denial in the word order, where nobody can miss it. Sed (but) often follows to say what is true instead:

• Ne ŝi venis, sed li. - It was not her who came, but him.
• Mi vidis ne lin, sed ŝin. - I saw not him but her.

Nine times out of ten you are denying the action, and ne sits before the verb. Before writing it, ask what exactly you are denying, and put ne in front of that.