Learn how to say "not" and "don't have"
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| Hola a todos! Soy Lucia. Hi everybody! I’m Lucia. |
| Welcome to SpanishPod101.com’s Español en tres minutos. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Spanish. |
| In our previous lessons, we learned how to use the verbs ser/estar and tener. In this lesson, we’re going to learn how to turn these three verbs into their negative forms in order to say "I'm not" and "I don't have." |
| So let's take an example. Imagine you are about to go to a party with a Spanish friend. You ask him if he is ready, and he answers No estoy preparado. [I’m not ready] |
| Then, you ask him if he has a car to use to go to the party and he says No tengo coche. [I don’t have a car.] |
| Let’s look at these two negative sentences- |
| No estoy preparado. |
| No tengo coche. |
| [slowly] no estoy preparado/no tengo coche |
| Did you catch some similar words in these two sentences? |
| Right! In each sentence, you have one more word, no. It’s simple, right? You only have to add the word no before the verb. |
| And this is an example with the verb estar. |
| Eres italiano? “Are you Italian?” |
| No soy italiano. “I’m not Italian.” |
| It’s exactly the same...easy, no? |
| Now let's look at an example with the verb tener, "to have"- |
| "I have a car" is Tengo coche, and "I don't have a car" is No tengo coche. |
| As you can see it is the same way again. |
| This is the only way to make a negative sentence, adding no before the verb. It doesn’t matter which verb you are using, the rule is always the same. |
| So now, how would you say "I don't like this restaurant?" For reference, “I want a cake.” is “Quiero un pastel”. Put no in before quiero. |
| No quiero un pastel. |
| [slowly] No quiero un pastel. |
| Easy, don't you think? So now you can turn many sentences into negative forms just by adding No. |
| There are a couple of exceptions with the verbs “to like” and “to love”. But we will learn more about these in the next few lessons. |
| Now it’s time for Lucia’s tips. |
| There is another way to reply negatively. |
| It’s so easy - all you have to do is add No and a comma to the front of a negative sentence. For example, No, no tengo cohe. [No, I don’t have car.] |
| No, no quiero pastel. [No, I don’t want cake.] |
| This way, you will put more emphasis on your denial. |
| Get ready for the next lesson because we are going to study a really important part of the Spanish language - using adjectives. |
| I’ll be waiting for you in the next Español en 3 minutos. |
| Nos vemos!! |
Comments
HideHola Stephen L Summerall,
Thank you for your reply.
Yes, that is true. It's implied when this isn't written.
Sigamos practicando!
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
In the quiz it show tengo means have. Wouldnt it mean I have?
Hola Dan,
Thank you for your comment.
"un" and "una" are the articles used for masculine and feminine nouns. Articles are not always needed but imply in the sentences.
"No tengo un carro" or "No tengo carro" - "I don't have a car" (If you don't have a car, then there no need on emphasizing the car with the article "un".)
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
Thank you for the lessons. I am enjoying them a lot. Why do you use "un" or "una" in some sentences but not others? Is it optional?
No tengo carro.
I don't have a car.
No quiero un pastel.
I do not want a cake.
Hola Richard,
Yes you can, actually it's more common to say "No quiero pastel."
Saludos,
Carla
Team SpanishPod101.com
Can you say: No quiero pastel ,Instead of: No quiero un pastel.