Negation in Spanish: How to make sentences negative

The most basic way to make a sentence negative in Spanish is use no. No is placed directly before the verb, unless the verb is preceded by an object, in which case you should place no before the object.

Examples:
No soy de America.
No lo quiero.

Spanish also frequently uses other negative words. These include:
Nada (nothing, not anything)
Nadie (nobody, no one)
Nunca (never)
Tampoco (neither, not either)

Nunca and tampoco can be placed right before the verb or toward the end of a sentence that already has nobefore the conjugated verb.
Examples:
Nuncavoy a la playa.   No voy a la playa nunca.
Tampocovoy a la piscina.   No voy a la piscinatampoco.

Nadaand nadiecan be placed right before the verb, if used as the subject of the sentence. They can also be used as the object of the sentence if the sentence has nobefore the conjugated verb.
Examples:
Nada esfácil.   No quierohacer nada hoy.
Nadiequierelavar los platos.   No hay nadieaquí.

This may make it seem like Spanish is using double negatives, including no before the verb, and nada, nadie, nunca, or tampoco afterwards. But it is not considered redundant, as it would be in English. When translating to English, do not include both negative words.

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