# Basic negation: no before the verb

> id: grammar.negation.basic-no · category: grammar · depth: standard · levels: A1 · review: internally_reviewed

**Summary.** No goes immediately before the verb (and its object pronouns): no trabajo hoy, no lo sé. Answering negatively often doubles it: No, no quiero.

Basic negation is just no placed immediately before the verb: no trabajo hoy, no entiendo, no vino. Nothing comes between no and the verb except object pronouns, which stay attached to the verb group: no lo sé, no te escucho, no me lo dijeron.

There's no auxiliary 'do' and no special question form — you negate and question the same simple verb: ¿no vienes?, ¿no te gustó? In compound tenses, no goes before haber: no he terminado, no había llegado.

When answering a question negatively, Spanish often shows two no's: the first answers, the second negates the verb — No, no quiero; No, no puedo hoy. The doubling is normal, not emphatic.

## Examples
- No tengo tiempo esta semana. — I don't have time this week.
- ¿No te gustó? — No, no mucho. — You didn't like it? — No, not much.
- No tengo tiempo esta semana, pero no es por falta de ganas. — I don't have time this week, but it's not for lack of interest.

Related: grammar.negation.negative-words, grammar.negation.double-negation

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