Expressions using no
Expressions using no(a) More emphatic than noalone are: claro que no/desde luego que no/por
supuesto que no‘of course not’.(b) No + verb +más que/sino means ‘no more than’, ‘only’, ‘nothing but’:
No hace sino emborracharse.He does nothing but get drunk.For nomás [LA], see 30.6.3.8.
(c) No... sinois frequently used to deny one idea and affirm a second:No fue el viento sino el agua lo que lo destruyó.
It was not the wind but the water that destroyed it.Common also is the pattern no solo/solamente... sino (también) ‘not only... but (also)’.Sino queis required before a clause:
Vino no solo su madre sino también su abuela.
Not only her mother but also her grandmother came.
No solo va a la escuela sino que va con muchas ganas.
He not only goes to school, but he goes willingly.
(d) Students should be aware that in some circumstances a seemingly super-
fluous nois used by native speakers when the intention is clearly notmeant
to be negative. This occurs above all after hasta que‘until’ when the main
clause is negative:
No les des nada hasta que no terminen el trabajo.
Don’t give them anything until they finish the work.This superfluous nois sometimes used in comparisons after que, especially
if this quewould otherwise be followed directly by a clause introduced by
que:
Es mejor que esperes más tiempo que no que te vayas sin
verlo.
It’s better for you to wait longer than go off without seeing him.
For the use of noin question tags, e.g. ¿no es verdad?, see 27.3.24.3.1(^1111) 24.3
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Expressions
with negative
words