Interrogative and negative sentences

Unit 26 (Unidad 26)
Interrogative and negative sentences
(Las frases interrogativas y negativas)
Level 1
1.1 Interrogative sentences (Frases interrogativas)
1.2 Use of ¿Verdad? (Uso de ¿Verdad?)
1.3 Negation (Negaci
´
on)
1.1 Interrogative sentences
i A question is regularly formed in Spanish by placing the verb before its subject:
singular plural
¿Hablo yo? Do I speak? ¿Hablamos nosotros/as? Do we speak?
¿Hablas t´u? Do you speak? ¿Habl´ais vosotros/as? Do you speak?
¿Habla ´el/ella/Ud. Does (s)he / do you
speak?
¿Hablan ellos/ellas/Uds.? Do they/you
speak?
Examples
¿Habla Ud. espa˜nol? Do you speak Spanish?
¿Vas al cine? Do you go to the movies?
ii Notice that Spanish speakers have the clever idea of warning you of a question in the
making by requiring an upside-down question mark at the beginning of the
sentence, as well as at the end. This also holds for exclamation points/marks: ¡H´ıjole!
(M)/¡Jol´ın! / ¡Jolines! (only in Spain) = Jees! / Heavens above!, ¡Dios m´ıo! = Jees /
Heavens above! (My God! is stronger in English than ¡Dios m´ıo! The same goes for
the English Jesus! which is much stronger than ¡Jes ´us!, commonly used when
someone sneezes = Bless you!)
iii As a point of interest, this practice of having a question mark at the beginning of a
question corresponds to the English of a few centuries ago, while the introduction of
do as part of a question, a veritable headache for foreign learners of English, is

comparatively modern. No construction like do exists in Spanish. The same goes for
the other Romance languages.
When an interrogative word is used, it begins the sentence, just as in English:
¿Qui´en quiere cenar ahora? Who wants to eat now?
¿Qu´e dices? What do you say?
¿Por qu´e canta ahora? Why’s she singing now?
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26 Interrogative and negative sentences
iv In the absence of an interrogative word, the verb may come first, although in speech
the subject could very easily precede the verb. When the subject comes before the
verb, there is a rise in the intonation at the end of the sentence:
¿Viene la chica ahora? Is the girl coming now?
¿La chica viene ahora? Is the girl coming now?
¿Arregla el carro el mec´anico? Does the mechanic repair the car?
¿El mec´anico arregla el carro? Does the mechanic repair the car?
¿Corrige los deberes la profesora? Does the teacher correct the homework?
¿La profesora corrige los deberes? Does the teacher correct the homework?
Notice the word order in the second and third examples. In ¿Arregla el carro el
mec
´
anico?,itisvery unlikely that mec
´
anico would precede carro,any more than
profesora would precede deberes.However, if carro or deberes is qualified in any
way, and that part of the sentence lengthened, these two words could come after the
subject (see unit 29 on word order).
1.2 Use of ¿Verdad?
Fortunately for English speakers, and unfortunately for Spanish speakers learning
English, the all-purpose ¿verdad? covers approximately 200 English possibilities. So
have sympathy with Spanish speakers of English. Or any foreigner tackling English for

that matter.
Examples
Vasalteatro ¿verdad? You’re going to the theater, aren’t you?
Es tarde ¿verdad? It’s late, isn’t it?
Son colombianos ¿verdad? They’re Colombians, aren’t they?
1.3 Negation
i The Spanish verb is negated by placing no in front of it:
No veo la luna I can’t see the moon
No va al partido He’s not going to the game
No entienden el italiano They don’t understand Italian
ii Other words which form a negative sentence are nadie (no one), nada (nothing),
ninguno (none), nunca (never) and jam ´as (never).
When these words follow the verb no precedes the verb:
No ve a nadie She doesn’t see anyone
No encontramos a nadie We don’t meet anyone
No esperan nada de ti They don’t expect anything from you
No veo nada aqu´ı I can’t see anything here
No pasa nada It’s O.K., Don’t worry
No muestra ning´un inter´es She shows no interest
No voy nunca a Argentina Inever go to Argentina
No nos visita jam´as She never visits us
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ASTUDENT GRAMMAR OF SPANISH
iii However, if nadie, nada, ninguno, nunca and jam ´as precede the verb, no is not
used:
Nadie lo sabe Nobody knows it
Nadie sale a encontrarnos No one comes out to meet us
Nada le satisface Nothing satisfies him
Nada me falta I need nothing (i.e. nothing is lacking to me)
Ninguna persona quiere ayudarnos No one wants to help us

Nunca viene He never comes
Nunca me llama He never calls me
Jam´as trabajo de noche Inever work at night
Exercises
Level 1
i Find a question that fits the following replies
Example
Tengo veinte a˜nos > ¿Cu´antos a˜nos tienes / tiene Ud.?
a VoyaM´exico este verano
b Vamos al cine a las siete
c Comen m´as tarde
d Vanajugar (al) f´utbol esta ma˜nana (al in Spain, not in M)
e Escribo con la computadora
f Prefieren estas flores
g Este libro cuesta cien pesos
h Porque estoy cansado
i Este chico es el alumno m´as listo
j Estoy leyendo
ii Change the following sentences into the negative. There may be more than one
possibility.
Example
Anda por la calle > No/nunca anda por la calle
a Ve oaalguien
b Trabajan toda la semana
c Estoy leyendo un libro
d Entienden todo lo que digo
e Vamos siempre a la alberca (M)/piscina el viernes
f Todo el mundo cena aqu´ı esta noche
iii Change the position of the second negative word so that all the negative
expressions precede the verb.

Example
No he querido nunca visitar aquel museo > Nunca he querido visitar aquel museo
a No ha venido nadie
b No he visto nunca Las Barrancas del Cobre
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26 Interrogative and negative sentences
c No hemos estudiado nunca el japon´es
d No me interesa nada
e No me ha escrito ning´un banco
iv Create questions with ¿verdad? to precede the following sentences.
Example
S´ı, es tarde > Es tarde, ¿verdad?
a S´ı, vamos al teatro esta noche
b S´ı, sale con toda la familia
c No, no compramos verduras hoy
d S´ı, me duele la espalda
e S´ı, fuimos a Albuquerque / Nuevo M´exico el a ˜no pasado
f No, mi mam´a vive en San Francisco
v Paired activity (a and b)
(a) Objective –Topractice use of the negative in sentences
Method –Amakes a statement and B puts it in the negative
Examples
A: Voy al parque
B: No voy al parque
A: Veo a alguien
B: No veo a nadie
A: Tengo un libro
B: No tengo ning´un libro
(b) Objective –Topractice the use of the interrogative. (In fact, we have been practicing
this all along with these paired activities, so it will be easy.)

Method –Amakes ten statements and B converts them into questions
Example
A: Preparo la comida
B: ¿Preparas la comida?
A: Voy al estadio
B: ¿Ad´onde vas?
Level 2
2.1 Uses of no ...ni ...(ni)(Usos de no...ni...[ni])
2.2 Uses of sino, no s ´olo..., and tampoco (Usos de...)
2.3 Uses of ni siquiera (Usos de...)
2.4 Order with no (Orden con no)
2.5 No with negation and repetition (No con negaci
´
on y repetici
´
on)
2.6 Miscellaneous features (Varios detalles)
2.7 Negative prefixes (Prefijos negativos)
2.8 Order with no and compound verbal forms (Posici
´
on / Ubicaci
´
on [M] de no con
formas verbales compuestas)
241
ASTUDENT GRAMMAR OF SPANISH
2.1 Uses of no ...ni ...(ni)
iNi...ni ...istheequivalent of neither ...nor ...(ornot...either ...or):
No tengo ni pasteles ni caramelos Ihaven’t got cakes or candies
No lo encontr´enieneldepartamento (M)/piso

ni en el jard´ın
I couldn’t find it either in the apartment
or in the yard/garden
No bebo ni fumo I neither drink nor smoke
Nunca ri˜nes ni protestas Yo unever quarrel or protest
No lo saben ni Celia ni Pablo Neither Celia nor Pablo know it
ii No is also followed by ni in the following way when used with tener:
No tengo ni idea Ihavenoidea / I haven’t a clue
It also occurs in the idiomatic ¡ni hablar! used to reject a suggestion:
“¿Vienes al cine?” “Ni hablar” “A re you coming to the movies?” “Nothing
doing”
iii Ni takes the place of o = or, after all negatives or clauses embodying a negative or
restrictive idea:
Apenas pod´ıa respirar ni moverse He could hardly breathe or move
Sali´o sin decirme nada ni cerrar la puerta She went out without saying anything to me
or closing the door
2.2 Uses of sino, no s
´
olo ...andtampoco
i Notice how sino combines with no = not...but, and no s ´olo = not only ...but also:
Hoy no es mi cumplea˜nos sino mi santo Today is not my birthday but my saint’s day
No s´olo era buen cocinero sino tambi´en un fant´astico
anfitri´on
He wasn’t only a good cook but also a
fantastic host
ii Use of tampoco which is often the equivalent of either. Tampoco negates something
in addition to a previous negation:
Pepa no ha comido, Juan tampoco Pepa hasn’t eaten, Juan hasn’t either
“No he visto ninguna pel´ıcula.” “Y la ´ultima de
Cantinflas?” “Tampoco”

“I haven’t seen a single movie.” “And the last
one of Cantinflas?” “Not that one either”
2.3 Uses of ni siquiera
Uses of ni siquiera = not even. It strengthens the negation of ni:
No lo/le conozco (ni) siquiera de vista I don’t know him, not even by sight
Se lo entregu´ey(ni) siquiera me dio las gracias Igaveittohim and he didn’t even thank me
La ni˜na no sabe (ni) siquiera sumar Thechild doesn’t even know how to add up
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26 Interrogative and negative sentences
2.4 Order with no
With the exception of object personal pronouns, no word intervenes between the verb
and the negative:
Su proyecto no me parece rentable Her plan doesn’t seem viable to me
No se lo he conseguido todav´ıa Ihaven’t obtained it for him/her yet
Parecen distintos pero no lo son They look different but they aren’t
2.5 No with negation and repetition
i No neutralizes any adjectives, adverbs or proposition of negative value, and is itself
neutralized by repetition:
detalles no importantes (see lower down) unimportant details
No le fue permitido no asistir He was not allowed not to go
No podemos no admitir su razonamiento We cannot but admit his reasoning
ii There can be more than one set of negatives in a Spanish sentence. In the second
example below there are four, and three in the first:
Ella no me ha dicho nunca nada She has never told me anything
No toleraba nunca ninguna
intervenci´on de nadie
He never tolerated any intervention from
anyone
The positive forms anything (algo) and anyone (alguien)inEnglish are not possible in
these Spanish sentences.

iii Note also the use of alguno which, when it occurs after the noun, has a negative
connotation:
No he visto a persona alguna en la calle Ihaven’t seen anyone in the street
No tengo idea alguna sobre el asunto Ihavenoidea on the affair
No le interesa sugerencia alguna He’s not interested in any suggestion
2.6 Miscellaneous features
In verbal expressions at least, no does not give an exactly opposite meaning:
Acabo de entender por qu´elohizo Ihave just understood why he did it
No acabo de entender por qu´elohizo I fail to understand why he did it
Dej´edefumar I stopped smoking
No dej´edeseguir estudiando I didn’t fail to go on studying
2.7 Negative prefixes
i Often an adjective or noun can be negated by using a negative prefix in- or des-:
c´omodo–inc´omodo suitable–unsuitable conocido–desconocido known–unknown
243
ASTUDENT GRAMMAR OF SPANISH
If such a ready-made word does not exist, a variety of negatives, no, nada and poco
can be used. Sometimes, in the case of no, this can have a euphemistic effect:
los no creyentes (los infieles) the unbelievers (non-believers)
los no violentos (partidarios de la paz) those who are non-violent (peace
supporters)
fuerzas no identificadas unidentified forces
ciudadanos no votantes non-voting citizens
una costumbre nada frecuente a rare custom
un empleo nada lucrativo a poorly paid job
una idea nada convincente an unconvincing idea
un profesor poco divertido a dull teacher
un coche poco r´apido a slow car
ii Note also the use of sin + infinitive:
una cuesti´on sin resolver an unresolved question

misterios sin aclarar unclarified mysteries
La cena est´a sin hacer Theevening meal remains to be prepared
iii Spanish has a number of other expressions which have the value of a negative and
sometimes, but not always, require no before the verb:
No dijo palabra She didn’t say a word
sin decir nada a nadie without saying anything to anyone
antes de hacer ning´un gesto before making a single gesture
Es imposible contestar nada It’s impossible to answer anything
En mi vida he visto tantas ara˜nas Ihaven’t seen so many spiders in my life
En toda la noche he podido dormir Ihaven’t slept all night
En todo el a˜no ha hecho tanto fr´ıo como hoy In the whole year it has not been so cold
as today
No veo ni gota I can’t see a thing
No entiende ni gota de ingl´es He doesn’t understand any English at all
2.8 Order with no and compound verbal forms
In the case of compound verbal forms with ser, estar and haber, no precedes the
auxiliary:
No he querido ir Ihaven’t wanted to go
No est´an dispuestos a aceptar la oferta They aren’t ready to accept the offer
El regalo no fue aceptado Thepresent was not accepted
Finally, for any philosophers among you, the indefinite negative pronoun nada may
also be construed as a noun = nothing(ness). Carmen Laforet’s novel Nada and Sartre’s
monumental treatise (if you can face it) called in Spanish El ser y la nada (L’
ˆ
Etre et len´eant /
Being and Nothingness) illustrate this point.
Exercises
Level 2
i Pon las palabras de las siguientes frases en un orden adecuado. Dichas frases siguen
una secuencia l ´ogica y conducen naturalmente al segundo ejercicio

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26 Interrogative and negative sentences
Ejemplo
siquiera de lavarse sin sali´o casa > Sali´odecasa sin siquiera lavarse
a toalla playa a
*
playeras/playera sin ni lleg´ola
b aletas gafas / visor (M)anisin nadar empez´o
c tabla la guantes sin ni subi´o windsurf a de se arn´es
d del sin ba˜no zapatillas de traje agua ni sali´o
e padre / pap´a(M) madre / mam´a(M)ninosusuprotest´oni
f ponerse quiso ba˜no de no traje pantal´on ni corto ni
g convencer dif´ıcil mal sino s´olo educado tambi´en era no de
*
Playeras = sneakers/trainers in Spain. Playera = T-shirt in M.
ii Dadas las circunstancias referidas en las frases de arriba, y a la luz de ellas, llena los
espacios (M) / rellena los blancos con una expresi ´on negativa.
Ejemplo
(
)hevisto tal espect´aculo > En mi vida / Nunca he visto tal espect´aculo
a (
) entiendo ( )elcomportamiento del ni ˜no ( )sumodo de hablar
b Este chaval / jovencito (M)(
) tiene ( ) para cubrirse
c (
)hevisto ( ) igual en la vida
d (
)yotampoco
e ¿(
)lepuedes prestar ( )deropa?

f Pero (
) acepta ( )ayuda ( ) sugerencia
g (
) acabo de entender por que se comporta as´ı
h (
) dejes de decirle que es un mal educado por ( ) cubrirse
i (
)hepodido ( ) hacerle entrar en raz´on bajo ( ) motivo
j ¿(
) ser´ıa posible llamar a un polic´ıa?
k S´ı, pero el polic´ıa dir´ıa que “(
)esnada, y el chaval / jovencito (M)( ) sabe ( )
de (
)”
l Entonces en una democracia, ¿Las autoridades admiten tal conducta como si (
)?
m Pero, hay que decirle al ni ˜no “¡(
)detonter´ıas!”
n Yo que t´u, dir´ıa que (
)( ) permitir´ıa eso
iii Actividad en parejas
Objetivo – Usar la estructura ni ...ni
M
´
etodo – Aleofrece a B un verbo y dos nombres (diez frases en total). B usa un verbo
al que siguen dos nombres separados por ni ...ni
Ejemplos
A: Comer carne queso
B: No como ni carne ni queso
A: Ver ´arboles flores

B: No veo ni ´arboles ni flores
Despu´es se re´une toda la clase, y el profesor recaba todos los ejemplos
245
Unit 27 (Unidad 27)
Numbers and measurements. Time
and dimensions (Los n
´
umeros y las
medidas. El tiempo [duraci
´
on = la
hora] y las dimensiones)
Level 1
1.1 Cardinal numbers (N
´
umeros cardinales)
1.2 Telephone numbers (N
´
umeros de tel
´
efono)
1.3 Ordinal numbers (N
´
umeros ordinales)
1.4 Days, weeks, months and seasons (D
´
ıas, semanas, meses y estaciones del a
˜
no)
1.5 Time and the clock (La hora y el reloj)

1.1 Cardinal numbers
(Note the figures/letters in bold.)
i
Un(o), una 1 veinte 20
dos 2 veinti´un/uno/una 21
tres 3 veintid
´
os 22
cuatro 4 veintitr
´
es 23
cinco 5 veinticuatro 24
seis 6 veinticinco 25
siete 7 veintis
´
eis 26
ocho 8 veintisiete 27
nueve 9 veintiocho 28
diez 10 veintinueve 29
once 11 treinta 30
doce 12 treinta y un/uno/una 31
trece 13 cuarenta 40
catorce 14 cuarenta y un/uno/una 41
quince 15 cincuenta 50
diecis
´
eis 16 sesenta 60
diecisiete 17 setenta 70
dieciocho 18 ochenta 80
diecinueve 19 noventa 90

246