"No" in Spanish

Quick Answer

While no in Spanish tends to be used on its own, we need to take care when translating it into English. You may have to use an auxiliary or modal verb like doesn’t, won’t, or shouldn’t; an English question tag like don’t you?; or a negative prefix like non-. Read on to learn more!

No ni ná: Three negative words that, when used together in Andalusian Spanish, come to mean something like of course! With double—and the occasional triple—negatives in Spanish, it’s easy for students of the Spanish language to get confused. Read on to learn more about how to use no in Spanish and translate it into English.

No in Spanish

You’ll see the word noa lot in Spanish. You may think that it’s effortlessly translated into English as no. Pues no, amigo mío.(Not so, my friend.) Those two little letters in Spanish can be translated multiple ways in English. Let’s take a look.

How to Say No in Spanish

It’s quite easy to make a verb, or verb phrase, negative in Spanish. Just add no!

Things get a lot more complicated when we need to translate a Spanish no into English. Let’s check out how we can translate these two little letters into English.

Doesn’t, Don’t, Didn’t

Remember that in English, to make a verb negative we tend to use an auxiliary or modal verb. In many cases, this will be don’t, doesn’t, or didn’t.

examples
Nancy no habla francés. Nancy doesn’t speak French.
Ellos no van a este colegio. They don’t go to this school.
No estudiaste el tema seis ayer. You didn’t study unit six yesterday.

Am Not, Isn’t, Aren’t, Wasn’t, Weren’t

If the sentence uses the verbs seror estarin Spanish, we’ll need to use the verb to be in English:

examples
No estoy muy contenta con mis notas este cuatrimestre. I’m not very happy with my grades this term.
Roberta no es una persona amable. Roberta isn’t a nice person.
Ellos no están en casa los domingos por la mañana. They’re not home on Sunday mornings.
Tomás no estaba haciendo ejercicio cuando llegué a casa. Tomas wasn’t exercising when I got home.
No tenían pensado venir al concierto este viernes. They weren’t planning on coming to the concert this Friday.

Remember: You can also use not with the verb to be.

examples
No está contento con el trabajo que entregó ayer. He is not happy with the project he handed in yesterday.
Manny no tiene 30 años. Tiene 27. Manny is not 30. He’s 27.

Remember that translation isn’t always direct! For example, there are phrases in Spanish that use verbs that are not ser or estar for phrases that use to be in English. For example:

examples
Rodrigo no tiene calor. Es de Miami y está acostumbrado al calor. Rodrigo isn’t hot. He’s from Miami and he’s used to the heat.
Ellas no tienen hambre. Ya cenaron. They’re not hungry. They already ate dinner.
No tengo miedo a las tormentas, pero mi hijo sí. I’m not afraid of thunderstorms, but my son is.
No voy a casa. Tengo que ir al súper. I’m not going home. I need to go to the grocery store.

Hasn’t, Haven’t, Hadn’t

If the Spanish sentence uses any iteration of the verb haberas an auxiliary verb, in English we’ll use hasn’t, haven’t, or hadn’t.

examples
Inés no ha dicho nada en toda la tarde. Inés hasn’t said anything all afternoon.
No he venido aquí para hablar. I haven’t come here to talk.
Ellos no habían visto a su nieto. They hadn’t seen their grandson.

Can’t, Couldn’t

When the Spanish sentence uses the verb poder, we need to translate the no + poder as can’t or couldn’t.

examples
El niño no puede subir la cremallera de su chaqueta. The little boy can’t zip up his jacket.
Tus padres querían venir al concierto, pero no podían porque estaban trabajando. Your parents wanted to come to the concert, but they couldn’t because they were working.

Won’t

When you find a negative phrase in the simple future tense in Spanish, you’ll need to use won’t in English. For example:

examples
Jon no hablará con su hermano si no pide perdón. Jon won’t talk to his brother if he doesn’t apologize.
Yo no iré a la boda porque no puedo gastar tanto en ropa y un regalo. I won’t go to the wedding because I can’t spend that much money on clothes and a gift.
Nerea no trabajará para esa red social mucho más. Nerea won’t work for that social network much longer.

Other Modals and Auxiliaries in English

There are other modal and auxiliary verbs that are used to make negative phrases in English. In these cases, like each one mentioned before, Spanish just uses no.

examples
No me gustaría despertarme a las cinco para trabajar. I wouldn’t like to get up at five to work.
No debes comer el postre antes del primer plato. You shouldn’t eat dessert before the first course.
No debes conducir por la izquierda en España. You mustn’t drive on the left in Spain.

No in Spanish: Non-

You’ll also find no used in Spanish with words that are not verbs. What do we do when we find a no before a noun? In many cases, we use the English prefix non-. For example:

SPANISH	ENGLISH
no específico	nonspecific
no ficción	nonfiction
no lineal	nonlinear
no tóxico	nontoxic
no verbal	nonverbal
no violento	nonviolent

Not all non- words in English use no in Spanish. For example, nonstick is antiadherente, nonstop is directoor sin parar, and nonprofit is organización sin fines de lucro.

Question Tags

You’ll find that Spanish uses the question tag ¿no?at the end of sentences. While you might be tempted to translate this question tag as no? in English, resist the temptation! Remember that in English, we use auxiliary verbs and subject pronouns to make statements into questions. For example:

examples
Hace fresco, ¿no? It’s chilly out, isn’t it?
Vas a hacer la cena, ¿no? You are going to make dinner, aren’t you?
Manolo vendrá a la fiesta, ¿no? Manolo will come to the party, won’t he?
No vamos a estudiar ese capítulo, ¿no? We’re not going to study that chapter, are we?
No deben firmar aquí, ¿no? They shouldn’t sign here, should they?

Looking for more articles about grammar? Take a look at these articles!

• Word Order and Spanish Syntax

• Comparisons of Equality in Spanish

• Comparisons of Inequality in Spanish

• Spanish Punctuation

• How to Type Spanish Accents and Letters

• What Is the Upside-Down Question Mark?

• What Is the Upside-Down Exclamation Point?

• Written Accent Marks (Tildes)