Negatives - Easy Learning Grammar Italian
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.