Learn Spanish (Latin America): Ella no habla inglés y yo tampoco. - She doesn't speak English and neither do I.

Ella no habla inglés y yo tampoco.

She doesn't speak English and neither do I.

Breakdown of Ella no habla inglés y yo tampoco.

Questions & Answers about Ella no habla inglés y yo tampoco.

This lesson is about ni... ni, so why does this sentence use y yo tampoco instead of ni yo tampoco?

You actually can use ni here! Saying ni yo tampoco (nor me neither) is very common in Spanish to add emphasis. However, y yo tampoco (and neither do I) is the standard way to agree with a negative statement, while ni... ni... is usually paired together to mean 'neither... nor...' within the exact same clause.

Why doesn't the second half of the sentence need a verb, like 'do' in English?

In Spanish, you don't need filler words like 'do' or 'does' to echo an action. The phrase yo tampoco (literally 'I neither') stands perfectly on its own to mean 'neither do I' or 'me neither'.

Could I change the word order and say y tampoco yo?

Yes, tampoco yo is grammatically correct and means the exact same thing. However, putting the person first (yo tampoco) is much more common and natural-sounding in everyday Spanish.

If the first half was positive, how would I say 'and so do I'?

To agree with a positive statement, you just replace the negative tampoco with its positive opposite, también (also/too). You would say: Ella habla inglés y yo también.