A1 · Questions and negation
non in front of the verb
One word — and again no auxiliary.
non stands immediately in front of the verb: Non capisco, Non ho tempo.
The deletion is the same one as in the question, and it is worth seeing them together. English cannot negate a plain verb: I know not is archaic, so English inserts do and negates that instead — I do not know, she does not live here. Italian negates the verb directly. Non capisco is not I do not understand with words missing; it is the ordinary and only form.
If a pronoun is there, non moves in front of it: Non lo conosco, Non me lo dice. It never changes shape — no form, no apostrophe, no exception.
English also has a second negative that Italian lacks: the determiner no, as in I have no brothers, there is no time. Italian has no word for that at all; the negation sits on the verb and the noun is left bare. Non ho fratelli, non c'è tempo.
Answering a question takes No and then non again: Vieni? — No, non vengo. That is not a double negative but the answer plus the sentence.
Die Form
| I do not understand | non capisco |
| I have no time | non ho tempo |
| I do not know him | non lo conosco |
| that is not true | non è vero |
| it is not there | non c’è |
| No, I am not coming. | No, non vengo. |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
non stands immediately in front of the verb, with no auxiliary.
Non parlo bene il francese.I do not speak French well.
In front of a pronoun, non moves further forward.
Non ti sento bene.I cannot hear you well.
There is no word for the determiner no — non plus the verb is enough.
Non ho fratelli.I have no brothers or sisters.
non never changes its form.
Non è aperto e non apre oggi.It is not open and it is not opening today.
Woran man es erkennt
- non
- no
Beispielsätze
Non parlo bene l’italiano, ma capisco tutto.I do not speak Italian well, but I understand everything.
Oggi il museo non è aperto.The museum is not open today.
Non lo sapevo, scusa.I did not know that, sorry.
No, non ho fame.No, I am not hungry.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
The English no in front of a noun has no Italian counterpart. I have no brothers becomes non ho fratelli — the negation sits on the verb, not on the noun. Reaching for nessun gives not a single one, which emphasises something that was never meant to be emphasised, and reaching for fare to carry the do gives a sentence about doing.
One word, in front of the verb, and no auxiliary.
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