Negatives - Easy Learning Grammar Italian

What is a negative?
A negative question or statement is one which contains a word such as not, never or nothing: He’s not here; I never eat meat; She’s doing nothing about it.

1 non

The Italian word non (meaning not) is the one you need to make a statement or a question negative:

Non posso venire.	I can’t come.
Non hai la chiave?	Haven’t you got the key?
Giuliana non abita qui.	Giuliana doesn’t live here.

In English not or n’t comes after verbs. In Italian non comes in front of verbs.

Non è qui.	It’s not here.
Non è venuta.	She didn’t come.
I miei non hanno la macchina.	My parents haven’t got a car.
Lei non è molto alta.	She’s not very tall.

In English we sometimes make sentences negative by adding don’t, doesn’t or didn’t before the main verb, but in Italian you always just add non to the verb.

Positive		Negative
Lavorano.	They work.	Non lavorano.	They don’t work.
Lo vuole.	He wants it.	Non lo vuole.	He doesn’t want it.

TipNEVER use the verb fare to translate don’t, doesn’t or didn’t in negatives.

If there are words such as mi, ti, lo, la, ci, vi, li or le in front of the verb, non goes immediately in front of them.

Non l’ho visto.	I didn’t see it.
Non mi piace il calcio.	I don’t like football.

If you have a phrase consisting of not with another word or phrase, such as not now, or not yet, use non before the other word.

non adesso	not now
non ancora	not yet
non sempre	not always
non dopo sabato	not after Saturday

BUT, if you want to be more emphatic, or to make a contrast, use no instead of non, and put it after the other word.

Sempre no, qualche volta.

Not ALWAYS, but sometimes.

You use no instead of non in certain phrases:

In the phrase o no (meaning or not)

Vieni o no?	Are you coming or not?
che gli piaccia o no	whether he likes it or not

In the phrase di no after some verbs:

Credo di no.	I don’t think so.
Spero di no.	I hope not.
Ha detto di no.	He said not.

2 Other negative phrases

In English you only use one negative word in a sentence: I haven’t ever seen him. In Italian you use non followed by another negative word such as niente (meaning nothing), or mai, (meaning never).

Non succede mai.	It never happens.
Non ha detto niente.	She didn’t say anything.

The following are the most common phrases of this kind.

non … mai never or not ever

Non la vedo mai.

I never see her.

TipYou put mai between the two parts of the perfect tense.

Non l’ho mai vista.	I’ve never seen her.
Non ci siamo mai stati.	We’ve never been there.

non … niente nothing or not …anything

Non hanno fatto niente.

They didn’t do anything.

non … nessuno nobody or not … anybody
Non ho visto nessuno. I didn’t see anybody.

non … da nessuna parte nowhere or not … anywhere

Non riuscivo a trovarlo da nessuna parte.

I couldn’t find it anywhere.

non … nessuno/nessuna + noun no or not … any
Non c’è nessun bisogno di andare. There’s no need to go. or
There isn’t any need to go.

non … più no longer or not … any more

Non escono più insieme.

They’re not going out together any more.

non …né … né … neither … nor

Non verranno né Chiara né Donatella.

Neither Chiara nor Donatella are coming.

If you begin a sentence with a negative word such as nessuno or niente, do not use non with the verb that comes after it.

Nessuno è venuto.	Nobody came.
Niente è cambiato.	Nothing has changed.
BUT
Non è venuto nessuno.
Non è cambiato niente.

In Italian you can have more than one negative word following a negative verb.

Non fanno mai niente.	They never do anything.
Non si confida mai con nessuno.	He never confides in anyone.

As in English, negative words can be used on their own to answer a question.

Cos’hai comprato? – Niente.	What did you buy? – Nothing.
Chi ti accompagna? – Nessuno.	Who’s going with you? – Nobody.

Key points

To make a verb negative put non in front of it.
Unlike English, in Italian it is good grammar to follow non with another negative word.

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non … nessuno	nobody or not … anybody
Non ho visto nessuno.	I didn’t see anybody.

non … nessuno/nessuna + noun	no or not … any
Non c’è nessun bisogno di andare.	There’s no need to go. or There isn’t any need to go.