Breakdown of Нет, он не врач.
не
not
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
врач
doctor
нет
no
Questions & Answers about Нет, он не врач.
What is the difference between нет and не in this sentence?
Нет means "no" and is used to answer a question. Не means "not" and is used to make a specific word negative. So the sentence literally says "No, he not doctor."
Why isn't there a word for "is" in this sentence?
In Russian, the verb "to be" is skipped in the present tense. Instead of saying "he is not a doctor", you just say он не врач (he not doctor).
If this is an answer, what might the yes/no question have been?
Because Russian doesn't change the word order for questions, the question could be Он врач? (Is he a doctor?). The person asking would just raise their pitch on the word врач to show they are asking a question.
Does не always go right in front of the word it makes negative?
Yes! To say "not a doctor", you put не immediately before врач. If you wanted to say "it is not him who is the doctor", you would put the negative word before the pronoun like this: Не он врач.