Easy Learning Italian Grammar (2011)
NEGATIVES
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 nothingabout 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. |
Tip
NEVER 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, ma 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. |