Italian negation: non, non… mai and non… niente

Negation means turning a sentence into its “not” form: “I work” becomes “I don’t work”. In Italian this is one of the easiest things to do. You put the small word «non» directly in front of the verb, and nothing else changes: «Lavoro oggi.» “I’m working today.” becomes «Non lavoro oggi.» “I’m not working today.”

English needs a helper verb for this: “do not”, “does not”, “am not”. Italian never does. The verb keeps exactly the same form, and non does the whole job: «Marco parla tedesco» becomes «Marco non parla tedesco».

Two more points complete the picture. When you answer a question with no, Italian usually says no twice: «No, non sono di Roma.» And words such as «mai» (never) and «niente» (nothing) work together with non, so one sentence can contain two negative words.

Non goes right before the verb

The rule is short: non goes immediately before the conjugated verb, which is the verb with a personal ending, such as «parlo», «sei» or «abbiamo». If the sentence has a subject, the subject comes first: «Io non sono stanco», «I bambini non hanno fame».

Only one kind of word can stand between non and the verb: the small unstressed words that belong to the verb, such as «mi», «ti», «si», «ci» and «lo». They stay next to the verb, and non goes in front of the whole group: «Non mi chiamo Paolo», «Non ci sono sedie», «Non lo so» “I don’t know”.

English puts “not” after the first verb, so «Parlo non francese» is a very common beginner mistake. Also keep non and no apart. «No» is a complete answer, like English “no”. «Non» only makes a verb negative.

• Oggi la biblioteca non è aperta. · The library isn’t open today.
• Mi dispiace, non ci sono camere libere. · I’m sorry, there are no free rooms.
• Io non bevo caffè, e tu? · I don’t drink coffee, what about you?

Saying no: negative answers

When you answer a yes/no question negatively, Italian normally uses both words: «no» to answer, then «non» before the verb. «Sei di Roma? No, non sono di Roma.» You can also stop after «no» and give the right information: «No, sono di Bari.» Both are natural.

For a short answer, put a pronoun before «no»: «Io sono stanco. E tu? Io no.» “I’m tired. And you? I’m not.” So «io no», «lui no», «noi no» do the work of English “I’m not”, “he doesn’t” and so on. In the same way, «io sì» means “I am” or “I do”: «Marco non beve vino, io sì.»

Negative questions work like other yes/no questions: same words, rising voice. «Non hai fame?» means “Aren’t you hungry?”. A friendly suggestion often starts with «Perché non…?» “Why don’t…?”: «Perché non prendi un taxi?». To turn down an offer politely, say «No, grazie».

• Hai la macchina? No, non ho la macchina. · Do you have a car? No, I don’t have a car.
• Parli spagnolo? No, ma parlo francese. · Do you speak Spanish? No, but I speak French.
• Vuoi un caffè? No, grazie. · Would you like a coffee? No, thanks.

Non… mai and non… niente: two negative words

Some negative words go after the verb but still need non before it. The two you will meet first are «mai» “never” and «niente» “nothing, not anything”. Italian uses both words together: «Non mangio mai carne» “I never eat meat”, «Non capisco niente» “I don’t understand anything”. In standard English a double negative is a mistake; in Italian it is the normal, correct form.

The pattern is always the same: non, then the verb, then the second negative word. «Nulla» means the same as niente and works the same way. You will soon meet two more pairs: «non… nessuno» “nobody” and «non… più» “no longer, not any more”.

When one of these words comes first, before the verb, non disappears: «Nessuno parla inglese qui» “Nobody here speaks English”. They can also be one-word answers: «Bevi il latte? Mai.», «Che cosa fai stasera? Niente.»

No Italian word for “any”

English negative sentences often add “any”: “I don’t have any brothers”, “There aren’t any chairs”. Italian has no word for this “any”. It simply uses the plural noun with no article: «Non ho fratelli», «Non ci sono sedie», «Non mangio dolci».

With things you cannot count, such as milk, time or money, the noun stays singular and stands alone: «Non c’è latte», «Non ho tempo», «Non abbiamo soldi». With a single object you might own, Italians often use the definite article instead: «Non ho la macchina» “I don’t have a car”.

• In questa via non ci sono negozi. · There aren’t any shops in this street.
• Non abbiamo figli. · We don’t have any children.