If you learn only one negation word in Brazilian Portuguese, make it não. It does the work that English splits between three things: the answer "no," the negator "not," and the auxiliary "don't/doesn't/didn't." This page shows you exactly where não goes, what may and may not come between it and the verb, and the warm doubled não...não that Brazilians use constantly.
'Não' = both "no" and "not"
English uses two different words. No is the answer to a yes/no question; not is what you attach to a verb. Portuguese uses the same word, não, for both.
— Você quer café? — Não.
— Do you want coffee? — No.
Eu não quero café.
I don't want coffee.
So when someone asks a yes/no question, the bare answer is just Não (with a falling intonation). To deny a verb, you put não in front of it. Often Brazilians do both at once, repeating the verb: — Você vai? — Não vou. ("— Are you going? — No, I'm not.")
Placement: immediately before the verb
The basic rule is rigid and reliable: não comes directly before the verb. The subject (if expressed) goes before não; everything else goes after the verb.
Eu não falo inglês.
I don't speak English.
Meus pais não moram aqui.
My parents don't live here.
Because Portuguese routinely drops the subject pronoun (see the subject-omission page), you very often start a sentence with Não itself:
Não entendi a pergunta.
I didn't understand the question. (subject 'eu' dropped)
What may sit between 'não' and the verb: only clitics
The one thing allowed to slip between não and the verb is an unstressed object pronoun (a clitic) — me, te, se, o, a, lhe, nos, lhes. In fact, não is a classic trigger for placing the clitic before the verb (proclisis). Nothing else — no adverb, no noun — may intervene.
Ela não me viu.
She didn't see me.
Eu não te amo mais.
I don't love you anymore.
Eles não se falam há anos.
They haven't spoken to each other in years.
So the order is fixed: não + (clitic) + verb. An adverb like sempre or nunca does not go in that slot — it goes elsewhere in the sentence.
Compound tenses: 'não' goes before the auxiliary
When the verb is compound (auxiliary + participle/gerund/infinitive), não attaches to the auxiliary, the first verb in the chain — exactly as English attaches not to have/will/can.
Eu não tinha visto esse filme antes.
I hadn't seen that movie before.
A gente não vai conseguir terminar hoje.
We're not going to manage to finish today.
Ela não está trabalhando agora.
She isn't working right now.
The participle, gerund or main infinitive stays untouched at the end; não never lands in the middle of the verb chain.
'Não' + infinitive
To negate an infinitive (for instance after a preposition or a command-like structure), put não right before it.
Prometi não chegar atrasado.
I promised not to be late.
Por favor, não fumar aqui dentro.
Please, no smoking inside. (sign / impersonal instruction)
This is also how negative commands work for você: the verb takes the subjunctive form and não goes in front — Não fale assim comigo ("Don't talk to me like that").
The doubled 'não...não' for emphasis
A hallmark of Brazilian speech is the emphatic tail: a second não placed at the very end of the sentence. It does not cancel the first one — both negatives point the same way, and the second adds emphasis, warmth, or insistence depending on tone. This is (informal) and is heard far more than it is written.
Não quero não, obrigada.
No thanks, I really don't want any. (gentle refusal)
Eu não fui na festa não.
I did NOT go to the party. (insistent denial)
— Você está bravo? — Não estou não.
— Are you angry? — No, I'm not.
In some regions, especially the Northeast (regional: Nordeste), the front não can even be dropped, leaving only the tail: Quero não ("Nah, I don't want it"), Sei não ("I dunno"). That pattern is covered on the negation-without-'não' page.
Answering questions
Beyond the bare Não, Brazilians answer negatively by echoing the verb with não in front, which sounds more natural and complete than a one-word reply:
— Vocês já almoçaram? — Não, ainda não.
— Have you all had lunch? — No, not yet.
— Ele sabe dirigir? — Não sabe não.
— Does he know how to drive? — No, he doesn't.
The phrase ainda não ("not yet") and agora não ("not now") are everyday building blocks worth memorizing as units.
Common Mistakes
❌ Eu faço não isso.
Incorrect — 'não' must come before the verb, not after it.
✅ Eu não faço isso.
I don't do that.
❌ Eu não sempre como carne.
Incorrect — an adverb like 'sempre' can't sit in the 'não + verb' slot; only clitics may.
✅ Eu nem sempre como carne.
I don't always eat meat. ('nem sempre' = not always)
❌ Eu tinha não visto esse filme.
Incorrect — in a compound tense, 'não' goes before the auxiliary, not before the participle.
✅ Eu não tinha visto esse filme.
I hadn't seen that movie.
❌ Ela viu não me.
Incorrect — the clitic goes between 'não' and the verb, not after it.
✅ Ela não me viu.
She didn't see me.
❌ Eu não faço não trabalho hoje.
Incorrect — the emphatic tail 'não' belongs at the very end, after the object, not buried in the middle.
✅ Eu não trabalho hoje não.
I'm really not working today.
Key takeaways
- Não is both "no" (the answer) and "not" (the verb negator); there is no "do"-support.
- It sits immediately before the verb; only an unstressed object pronoun (clitic) may come between them (Não me viu).
- In compound tenses, não attaches to the auxiliary (Não tinha visto).
- The doubled não...não is an emphatic, friendly tail in (informal) speech — it intensifies, never cancels.
- Useful fixed answers: Não, ainda não (not yet), agora não (not now).
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Negation: OverviewA1 — How Brazilian Portuguese says no — 'não' before the verb, obligatory negative concord, the emphatic 'não...não' tail, and a map of the whole negation system.
- Double Negation in BRA2 — Negative concord in Brazilian Portuguese: why 'não vi nada' is correct and required, when 'não' is obligatory, and the positional rule that makes it disappear.
- Subject Omission (Pro-Drop in BR)A2 — Why Brazilian Portuguese can drop the subject pronoun, why it is only a partial pro-drop language, and why spoken BR increasingly keeps overt pronouns where Spanish and European Portuguese would drop them.
- Negation and Clitic PlacementB1 — How negation forces the object pronoun in front of the verb: 'não', 'nunca', 'ninguém' and 'nem' are all proclisis triggers, so the negator and the clitic stack up before the verb.
- Proclisis as BR Default (Speech)A2 — In spoken Brazilian Portuguese the object pronoun goes before the verb almost every time — even at the start of a sentence.