Negation: just no
Negation goes right before the verb and changes nothing else: No entiendo, No hay agua. For example: “No hablo español” — I don't speak Spanish. A rule from the Spanish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Negation goes right before the verb and changes nothing else: No entiendo, No hay agua.
Double negation is the norm here, not a slip: No tengo nada is word-for-word 'I don't have nothing'. Where English switches to 'anything' ('I don't have anything'), Spanish keeps the negative word and simply adds no in front.
By example
- No hablo españolI don't speak Spanish
- No está lejosIt's not far
- No hay nadieThere's nobody here
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Negation: how does it work in Spanish?
Negation goes right before the verb and changes nothing else: No entiendo, No hay agua.
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“No hablo español” — I don't speak Spanish. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.