Modern Spanish Grammar: A Practical Guide

Other ways of expressing negation 32.4No vino nadie.No one came.32.4.5Nunca, jamásNunca and jamás, ‘never’, are the exact opposites of siempre, ‘always’, all of whichindicate frequency with regard to the action expressed by the verb. They are equallyfrequent in initial position, before the verb, or after the verb in a double negativeconstruction. Jamás is less frequent and stronger than nunca.Nunca/jamás nos visitan or No nos visitan nunca/jamás.They never visit us.Nunca/jamás sale or No sale nunca/jamás.He/she never goes out.32.4.6 NingunoNinguno, ‘nobody’, ‘no’, ‘neither’, ‘none’, ‘any’, can refer to personal or non-personalnouns. It can come before a noun or it can be used as a substitute for a noun which hasalready been mentioned or which is understood. When used before a masculine noun,ninguno becomes ningún.No hay ningún autobús esta tarde.There isn’t any bus this afternoon.No veo ninguna solución.I don’t see any solution.¿Conoces a alguna de ellas? No, a ninguna.Do you know any of them? No, none.Ninguno de los dos lo sabía or No lo sabía ninguno de los dos.Neither of them knew it.Ninguno de ellos aceptó or No aceptó ninguno de ellos.None of them/nobody accepted.Ninguno me gusta or No me gusta ninguno.I don’t like any.Note that in the last three sentences, in which ninguno is part of the subject of thesentence, this can be placed before or after the verb. In initial position, the emphasis ison ninguno.5.1 (p. 24); 15 (p. 57)32.4.7Set phrases¡Qué va!¡De ningún modo/ninguna manera!¡Ni hablar!¡Ni pensarlo/soñarlo!¡Por nada del mundo!Of course not! (especially Spain)Certainly not!Out of the question!Not by any means!Not for all the world!195