Learn Spanish (Latin America): Ni siquiera el circo quiso comprar a ese oso. - Not even the circus wanted to buy that bear.

In Spanish, when a negative phrase like ni siquiera (not even) is placed before the verb, it makes the entire sentence negative on its own. You would only need to add a no to the sentence if the negative phrase came after the verb.

Could I put ni siquiera somewhere else in the sentence?

Yes! You could say El circo ni siquiera quiso comprar a ese oso. However, placing ni siquiera at the very beginning directly in front of el circo strongly emphasizes how surprising it is that the circus, of all buyers, didn't want the bear.

Why use the preterite quiso instead of the imperfect quería for "wanted"?

The imperfect (quería) describes an ongoing, open-ended desire. The preterite (quiso) is used for a specific moment of deciding, trying, or refusing. Here, it implies the circus was offered the bear and made a definitive, one-time decision to reject it.

Why is there an a before ese oso? Don't we only use the "personal a" for human beings?

While the "personal a" is mostly for people, it is frequently used for specific, identified animals like pets or animals you have a connection with. Because this isn't just a random bear in the wild, but ese oso (that specific bear), it gets treated like a person grammatically.