Negatives in Italian
Negation in Italian is a very simple structure: you just need the negative word non right before the verb. The rest of the sentence remains the same, therefore the verb is conjugated and, unlike English, it is not affected by the negation.
Make sure you focus on the negative word non and how we use it:
Lei viene -> Lei non viene.
She is coming -> She isn’t coming.
Noi siamo andati in Italia -> Noi non siamo stati in Italia
We have gone to Italy -> We haven’t gone to Italy
Parlo Francese -> Non parlo francese.
I speak French -> I don’t speak French.
As you can see, “non” precedes the main verb and, in compound tenses, it precedes the auxiliary verb.
Negative Expressions
Beside non for general negation, there are specific words used to negate certain elements or to express negation in different contexts.
Most of them are indefinite pronouns in Italian, that is, pronouns that are used to refer to people or things in a non-specific way. These pronouns are called indefinite because they refer to an indefinite or unknown entity.
- Niente/Nulla (nothing): used to negate the existence of something.
- Nessuno (no one, nobody): used to refer to the absence of people.
- Mai (never): used to negate the frequency of an action over time.
- Né… né… (neither… nor…): Used to negate multiple elements in a list.
What might be tricky about these negative expressions in Italian is the behavior of the verb when they are used. Let me explain it further.
Niente, nulla, and nessuno can be placed at the beginning of a sentence when they are used as subjects. When this happens, they precede the verb and the verb is in its affirmative form:
Niente mi convince.
Nothing convinces me
Stasera nessuno è venuto.
Tonight nobody came.
Instead, when they are placed after the verb, they behave as objects and the structure requires a double negation structure, which is the following:+ non + verb + nessuno/niente/nulla/mai...
Here are some examples:
Stasera non viene nessuno.
No one is coming tonight.
Non vedo niente.
I can’t see anything.
Lei non vuole nulla.
She doesn’t want anything.
No: Universally Understandable
If you are an English speaker, you might think this section is pointless. But actually, not all languages use the word no.
Lo sapevi?
Did you know it?
Probabilmente no
Probably not
Of course, if you want to say no to someone, you can play with words and say “no” in different ways. For now, learn how to negate verbs.
Now that you acquired this new language skill, you can stop pleasing Italian people!
