/ˈnuŋka/
Translation
never, ever
Word origin
From Latin numquam ('never'), a compound of num ('now, at all') and quam ('ever').
- Origin
- Latin
- Root
- numquam
Examples
Australia.
I have never been to Australia.
.
I would never do that again.
, .
Better late than never, they say.
.
I never thought I would find her again.
.
This would never have happened with more care.
Nunca follows the same double-negation rule as nada: it can either precede the verb with no "no" ("Nunca llego tarde") or follow the verb with "no" before it ("No llego nunca tarde"). Both patterns are grammatically correct; placing nunca before the verb for emphasis is slightly more formal.
Nunca and jamás are near-synonyms but not perfectly interchangeable. Jamás is more emphatic and literary; "nunca jamás" (never ever) is the intensified collocation. In affirmative questions and conditional sentences, both can mean "ever": "¿Has estado alguna vez en Japón?" is more common than "¿Has estado nunca en Japón?" though both are used.
Used in
Stories
(13)Alguien que lo haya visto
3 min read · Core 5000
Cuando llegué, ya había pasado
3 min read · Core 5000
La conductora de la ambulancia
3 min read · Core 5000
La aventura de Sofía
3 min read · Core 5000
La fábrica de madera
3 min read · Core 5000
La promesa de Lucía
3 min read · Core 5000
Le echo de menos
3 min read · Core 5000
Más vale tarde que nunca
3 min read · Core 5000
No creo que sea grave
3 min read · Core 5000
Por todas partes
3 min read · Core 5000
Preparando la visita
3 min read · Core 5000
¡Vaya sorpresa!
3 min read · Core 5000
Los puestos del sábado
4 min read · Core 1000
Grammar articles
(15)Spanish Adverbs of Place, Time and Degree (aquí, todavía, muy vs mucho)
Spanish Grammar Cheatsheet: The Essentials, One Page
Spanish Indefinites: alguno, ninguno, alguien, nadie, algo, nada, cualquiera
Spanish Intensifiers and Downtoners: muy, -ísimo, super, un poco, más bien
Spanish Intermediate Grammar (B1-B2): The Things That Stop You at the Plateau
Advanced Spanish Negation: ni, sino vs pero, tampoco, ni siquiera
Spanish Negation: no, nunca, nadie and Why Double Negatives Are Correct
The Spanish Perfect Subjunctive (haya hablado)
The Spanish Pluperfect Subjunctive and Conditional Perfect (hubiera hablado, habría hablado)
The Spanish Pluperfect (había hablado)
Spanish Present Perfect: he hablado, ha vivido, hemos visto
Spanish Proverbs (Refranes): Más vale tarde que nunca, A quien madruga Dios le ayuda
The Spanish Subjunctive in Relative Clauses (busco a alguien que sepa)
Verbs of Becoming in Spanish: ponerse, hacerse, volverse, convertirse en, llegar a ser
Spanish Word Order: SVO, Pro-Drop and the Five Rules That Cover 90% of Sentences
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