No quiero tocar el timbre por la noche.

I do not want to ring the doorbell at night.

Breakdown of No quiero tocar el timbre por la noche.

• yo: I
• querer: to want
• la noche: the night
• no: not

Questions & Answers about No quiero tocar el timbre por la noche.

Why does no come before quiero and not before tocar?

In Spanish, the basic rule is that no goes directly before the conjugated verb in the sentence.

• Conjugated verb: quiero (from querer)
• Infinitive: tocar

So the correct order is:

• No quiero tocar el timbre por la noche.
  (I don’t want to ring the doorbell at night.)

If you move things around (for emphasis or to use pronouns), no still stays before the conjugated verb:

• No lo quiero tocar por la noche. – I don’t want to ring it at night.
• No quiero tocarlo por la noche. – I don’t want to ring it at night.

In all cases, no + quiero stay together.

Why is tocar in the infinitive after quiero?

In Spanish, when you use verbs like querer, poder, necesitar, saber (know how to), etc., followed by another verb, that second verb almost always stays in the infinitive.

Pattern:

• conjugated verb
  • infinitive

So:

• No quiero tocar … = I don’t want to ring …
  
  • quiero is conjugated (1st person singular, present).
  • tocar stays as the infinitive, just like English “to ring” or “to touch”.

You would only conjugate tocar if it is the main verb of the sentence:

• No toco el timbre por la noche. – I don’t ring the doorbell at night (as a habit).