Advanced Spanish Negation: ni, tampoco, sino vs pero

Beyond no and nunca, Spanish has a handful of sharper negatives, and two words for "but":

• No tengo ni tiempo ni dinero. - I have neither time nor money.
• No es rojo sino azul. - It's not red but blue.

Advanced negation at a glance

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The negative words here (ni, ni siquiera, tampoco, apenas) follow the rule you already know from basic negation: before the verb it stands alone; after the verb, no goes in front.

Ni... ni: neither... nor

Ni... ni rules out two things together. Where it sits decides whether no appears:

Two subjects before the verb usually make it plural: vinieron. The singular vino is heard too, but the plural is the safe choice.

A single ni joins a second negative, like English "nor" or "and not":

• No lo sé ni me importa. - I don't know and I don't care.
• Ni lo pienses. - Don't even think about it.

Ni siquiera: not even

Ni siquiera denies even the least you could expect. Before the verb it stands alone; after it, no comes back:

Plain ni can carry the same "not even" in speech, a little more bluntly:

Tampoco: not either

También agrees with a positive ("me too"); tampoco agrees with a negative ("me neither"):

After me gusta, me duele and the other gustar-type verbs, agree with a mí, not yo.

In a full sentence, tampoco follows the usual rule:

• Yo tampoco lo sé. - I don't know either.
• No lo sé tampoco. - I don't know either.

Sino or pero

Both are "but". Pero adds a contrast to something that still stands. Sino throws out what you just denied and puts the right thing in its place, so it always follows a negative:

The third pero row is the trap: a negative in front does not force sino. Ask whether the second half replaces the first. "But rather" or "but instead" in English: sino. "But still" or "however": pero.

12

1. 1Ella lee.
2. 2No lee, sino que juega al fútbol.

Ella lee: she is reading. No lee, sino que juega al fútbol: he isn't reading; he's playing football instead.

Sino que and no solo... sino también

Before a conjugated verb, sino becomes sino que. Before a word or a phrase, it stays sino:

The same sino builds "not only... but also":

• No solo es inteligente, sino también amable. - He/She is not only clever but also kind.
• No solo canta, sino que también baila. - He/She not only sings but dances too.

Ya no and todavía no

Ya no says something has stopped; todavía no (or aún no) says it has not started yet. They are the negatives of todavía (still) and ya (already):

12

1. 1Todavía hay comida.
2. 2Ya no hay comida.

Todavía hay comida: there is still some food. Ya no hay comida: there is no food left any more.

Ya no goes before the verb and any pronouns, and needs nothing after it:

• Ya no vive aquí. - He/She doesn't live here any more.
• Ya no lo quiero. - I don't want it any more.
• ¿Ya no vienes? - Aren't you coming any more?

Strong negatives: para nada, en absoluto, apenas

To turn a plain no into a flat refusal, add one of these after the verb (en mi vida goes in front instead, with no no):

Para nada is casual; en absoluto is firmer and a little more formal. On its own, each can be a whole answer: ¿Te molesta? - En absoluto. - Does it bother you? Not at all.

Apenas (hardly) is the soft one. Before the verb it needs no no:

• Apenas lo conozco. - I hardly know him.
• Apenas come carne. - He/She hardly eats meat.

No es que + subjunctive

No es que brushes aside a wrong reason ("it's not that..."), and the verb after it goes into the subjunctive, because you are denying it:

• No es que no quiera, es que no puedo. - It's not that I don't want to, it's that I can't.
• No es que sea caro, es que no lo necesito. - It's not that it's expensive; I just don't need it.

Mistakes English speakers make

What to do next

1. Before you write "but" after a negative, ask: replace, or add? Replace is sino.
2. Do the brother story and the también or tampoco sort below.
3. Then the subjunctive after doubt and denial, where no es que belongs.