Kilo Lingo
Part of Chapter 37

CEFR B1-B2

Test yourself (14 questions)

Advanced Spanish Negation

You already know the basics: no before the verb, and the double negative that follows (no tengo nada). This page is the next floor up - the negation tools that make your Spanish sound adult rather than textbook. None of them are hard on their own, but together they are what separates a B1 speaker who negates carefully from one who only ever reaches for no.

ni, tampoco, ni siquiera at a glance

WordEnglishExample
ni... nineither... norNo tengo ni tiempo ni dinero.
ninor / not evenNo fui, ni quería. / Ni lo pienses.
ni siquieranot evenNi siquiera me llamó.
tampoconeither, not eitherYo tampoco lo sé.
apenashardly, scarcelyApenas lo conozco.

ni... ni: neither... nor

Ni... ni brackets two things you are ruling out together. After the verb it keeps the no:

  • No tengo ni tiempo ni dinero. (I have neither time nor money.)
  • No me gusta ni el café ni el té. (I like neither coffee nor tea.)

Put the pair before the verb and two things happen: the no disappears, and the verb turns plural, because you now have two subjects.

  • Ni Juan ni Pedro vinieron. (Neither Juan nor Pedro came.) - vinieron, not vino.

On its own, ni means nor or, in a short sharp phrase, not even:

  • No fui, ni quería. (I didn't go, nor did I want to.)
  • Ni lo pienses. (Don't even think about it.) - a fixed, dismissive little phrase.

ni siquiera: not even

When you want that "not even" to land with weight, reach for ni siquiera. It spotlights the least you might have expected, and then denies even that:

  • Ni siquiera me llamó. (He didn't even call me.) - a call being the bare minimum.
  • No tengo ni siquiera un euro. (I don't even have a single euro.)
  • Ni siquiera lo intentó. (He didn't even try.)

Before the verb it needs no no; after the verb the no returns, exactly like the other negatives.

tampoco: the negative of también

También means "also / too"; tampoco is its negative mirror, "neither / not either". English swaps "me too" for "me neither" across the positive-negative line, and Spanish does the same:

  • Yo también. (Me too.) -> Yo tampoco. (Me neither.)
  • A mí tampoco. (Me neither.) - when the original used an indirect object, as in no me gusta - a mí tampoco.
  • Yo tampoco lo sé. / No lo sé tampoco. (I don't know either.)

Before the verb, tampoco stands alone; after it, the no comes back.

sino vs pero: the one everyone gets wrong

Both sino and pero translate as "but", and this is where English speakers slip. They are not interchangeable.

Pero simply adds a contrasting idea. The first part can be positive or negative; pero just says "however, yet":

  • Es caro pero bueno. (It's expensive but good.)
  • Quiero ir pero no tengo tiempo. (I want to go but I don't have time.)

Sino does something narrower: it corrects a negative. It needs a no in front of it, and then supplies the true alternative - "not X but rather Y":

  • No es rojo sino azul. (It's not red but blue.)
  • No fui yo sino mi hermano. (It wasn't me but my brother.)
  • No estudia medicina sino derecho. (He isn't studying medicine but law.)

The quick test: if you can say but rather or but instead in English, use sino. If you mean however / yet, use pero.

sino que for full clauses

When what follows sino is a whole clause with its own conjugated verb, add que:

  • No vino sino que llamó. (He didn't come but rather phoned.) - llamó is a conjugated verb, so que.
  • No lo tira sino que lo guarda. (He doesn't throw it away but keeps it.)

Just a noun or adjective after? Plain sino. A conjugated verb heading a new clause? sino que.

no solo... sino también

The same sino powers the "not only... but also" frame, one of the most useful upgrades to your writing:

  • No solo canta sino también baila. (Not only does she sing but she also dances.)
  • No solo es inteligente sino también amable. (He is not only clever but also kind.)

Intensifying the negative

Spanish has a whole shelf of phrases for turning a flat "no" into an emphatic refusal:

  • en absoluto - not at all: No me gusta en absoluto. (I don't like it at all.)
  • para nada - not in the slightest: No me molesta para nada. (It doesn't bother me in the least.)
  • en mi vida - never in my life: En mi vida he visto algo así. (Never in my life have I seen such a thing.)
  • nada de - none of / no: No tengo nada de miedo. (I'm not the least bit afraid.)

And apenas for "hardly, scarcely", a soft near-negative:

  • Apenas lo conozco. (I hardly know him.)
  • Apenas había empezado cuando se fue. (He had scarcely begun when he left.)

no es que + subjunctive

To brush aside a wrong assumption, Spanish uses no es que followed by the subjunctive - "it's not that...":

  • No es que no quiera, es que no puedo. (It's not that I don't want to, it's that I can't.) - quiera, subjunctive.
  • No es que sea caro, sino que es innecesario. (It's not that it's expensive, but rather that it's unnecessary.)

The negation reaches into the subordinate clause and pulls it into the subjunctive - a small marker that you are denying, not asserting, what follows.

Common mistakes English speakers make

Using pero to correct a negative. After a denial, "but rather" is sino, not pero: no es rojo sino azul, never "no es rojo pero azul". Forgetting que before a clause. No vino sino que llamó needs the que because a conjugated verb follows. Treating tampoco as a positive. It only works in negative agreement; for "me too" you need también. Dropping the plural after pre-verbal ni... ni. Two subjects take a plural verb: ni Juan ni Pedro vinieron.

See also

Practise: test yourself

Fill in the blank

0/8

Complete each sentence with the right advanced-negation word: ni, sino, sino que, tampoco, siquiera or apenas.

  1. No tengo tiempo ___ dinero. (neither... nor) (the two-part 'neither... nor')

  2. No es rojo azul. (but rather) (corrects a negative with a single word)

  3. No vino llamó. (but rather + a full clause) (a conjugated verb follows, so add que)

  4. Yo lo sé. (neither / not either) (the negative of también)

  5. Ni me llamó. (not even) (ni ___ = not even)

  6. Juan ___ Pedro vinieron a la fiesta. (neither... nor, before the verb) (ni... ni before the verb takes a plural verb)

  7. había empezado cuando se fue. (hardly / scarcely) (hardly, barely)

  8. No solo canta también baila. (but also) (no solo... sino también)

Pick the right one

0/6

Choose sino or pero. Remember: sino corrects a negative and means 'but rather'; pero simply adds a contrast.

  1. No es rojo azul.

  2. Es caro muy bueno.

  3. No fui yo mi hermano.

  4. Quiero ir no tengo tiempo.

  5. No estudia medicina derecho.

  6. No vino a la reunión mandó un correo.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between sino and pero?
Both mean 'but', but they do different jobs. Pero adds a contrasting idea to a statement that can be positive or negative: es caro pero bueno (it's expensive but good). Sino corrects or replaces something already denied: it needs a negative in front of it and then supplies the true alternative. No es rojo sino azul (it's not red but blue) denies 'red' and substitutes 'blue'. The test: if you could say 'but rather' or 'but instead' in English, use sino; if you mean 'however / yet', use pero. Sino only appears after a negative; pero appears after anything.
When do I use sino que instead of sino?
Use sino que when what follows is a full clause with its own conjugated verb, not just a word or phrase. No vino sino que llamó (he didn't come but rather phoned) needs que because llamó is a conjugated verb heading a new clause. Plain sino links single elements: No es profesor sino médico (he's not a teacher but a doctor), no verb after sino, so no que. So the rule is simple: conjugated verb coming? Add que. Just a noun, adjective or phrase? Plain sino.
What does ni siquiera mean and how is it different from ni?
Ni siquiera means 'not even' and adds emphasis, spotlighting the least you might have expected: ni siquiera me llamó (he didn't even call me), the call being the bare minimum. Plain ni can also mean 'not even' in short exclamations - ni lo pienses (don't even think about it) - but ni siquiera is the fuller, more emphatic version and is what you want in normal sentences. Ni also does duty as 'nor' (no fui, ni quería) and, doubled up as ni... ni, as 'neither... nor'.
How do I say 'me neither' in Spanish?
Use tampoco, the negative mirror of tambien (also / too). Where an English speaker agrees with a positive by saying 'me too' (yo tambien), they agree with a negative by saying 'me neither' - and Spanish uses tampoco for exactly that: yo tampoco, or a mi tampoco when the original sentence used an indirect object (no me gusta - a mi tampoco). In a full sentence tampoco follows the double-negative rule: yo tampoco lo sé or no lo sé tampoco both work, depending on whether tampoco sits before or after the verb.