Negative Words (Nada, Nadie, Nunca) | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

Spanish has a small family of negative words that are essential for everyday conversation. Each one pairs naturally with an affirmative counterpart, and learning them as pairs will save you a lot of confusion later on. This page introduces the core set and shows how they're used in simple sentences.

The Core Negative Words

Here are the most common negative words in Latin American Spanish, along with their affirmative partners:

Negative	Meaning	Affirmative	Meaning
nada	nothing, anything	algo	something, anything
nadie	nobody, no one	alguien	somebody, someone
nunca / jamás	never	siempre	always
ninguno	none, no (one)	alguno	some, any
tampoco	neither, not either	también	also, too
ni	nor, not even	o	or

Nada (Nothing)

Nada means nothing or anything (in negative contexts). It can be a pronoun or act adverbially (not at all).

No tengo nada en la mochila.

I don't have anything in the backpack.

No me gusta nada esa película.

I don't like that movie at all.

Nadie (Nobody)

Nadie refers to people and means nobody or no one. It is always singular and takes singular verb agreement.

Nadie vino a la fiesta.

Nobody came to the party.

No conozco a nadie aquí.

I don't know anyone here.

Notice the personal a before nadie when it is a direct object referring to people—the same rule that applies to alguien.

Nunca and Jamás (Never)

Nunca and jamás both mean never. Nunca is far more common in everyday speech; jamás is stronger and more emphatic, almost like never ever. The two can even be combined: nunca jamás.

Nunca tomo café por la noche.

I never drink coffee at night.

Jamás olvidaré ese día.

I will never (ever) forget that day.

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Use jamás when you want to sound dramatic or absolute. For ordinary statements about habits or routines, stick with nunca.

Ninguno (None)

Ninguno means none or not any. It agrees in gender with the noun it refers to (ninguno / ninguna) and shortens to ningún before a masculine singular noun. It has its own dedicated page with more detail: see Ninguno and Ninguna.

No tengo ningún problema con eso.

I don't have any problem with that.

Tampoco (Neither)

Tampoco is the negative counterpart of también. It's used when you want to agree with a negative statement or add another negative idea. Learn more in Tampoco.

Yo tampoco quiero ir.

I don't want to go either.

Ni (Nor, Not Even)

Ni means nor and often appears in the pattern ni...ni for neither...nor. On its own, it can also mean not even. See the full explanation on Ni...Ni.

Ni siquiera me llamó.

He didn't even call me.

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Spanish usually requires a no before the verb when any of these negative words come after the verb. This is called double negation and is explained in detail in Double Negation Rules.