Is there a difference between "I don't" and "I do not" in Spanish? How do I deal with translating contractions?

Question

If I say, "I don't have a best friend, I have five" and want to translate it to spanish, would the translation be different if I type in "I do not have a best friend, I have five"?

thanks guys. you helped me out. - legam0612, JUN 15, 2010

Answer 1

Hi Legam, welcome to the forum.

To make a sentence negative in Spanish we usually just add the word "no."

For example,

"Tengo muchas amigas" = I have lots of friends.

"No tengo muchas amigas" = I don't (do not) have many friends.

"Me gustan las manzanas" = I like apples

"No me gustan las manzanas" = I do not (don't) like apples.

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As for contractions in English, the contraction and the whole words mean the same thing and are translated to Spanish by adding the "no" to the sentence.

Can't = cannot

Won't = will not

Don't = do not

Answer 2

The translation would be the same. There aren't verb contractions in Spanish like in English. Welcome to the forum.

Answer 3

Try it and see!

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your learning.