–¿Vais a salir de vacaciones?
‘Are you going on holiday?’
–Por supuesto. Vamos a ir a San Sebastián.
‘Of course. We are going to San Sebastián.’
–¿No has visto a María?
Haven’t you seen María?
–Sí, sí, la vi ayer.
‘Yes, I saw her yesterday.’
–Vendrá usted a vernos, ¿verdad?
‘You’ll come and see us, won’t you?’
–Naturalmente, muchas gracias.
‘Naturally, thank you very much.’31.6.2 Negative responses
The most common negative responses are:
no‘no’
claro que no‘of course not’
desde luego que no‘of course not’
por supuesto que no‘of course not’
¡qué va!‘not at all!’, ‘you must be joking!’
With the exception of no, which is neutral, the rest of the expressions are emphatic,
especially¡qué va!, which is restricted to informal contexts.
–¿Trabajas los sábados?
‘Do you work on Saturdays?’
–No, los sábados estoy libre.
‘No, I’m free on Saturdays.’
–No invitarás a Manuel, ¿verdad?
‘You won’t invite Manuel, will you?’
–No, no, por supuesto que no.
‘No, of course not.’
–No se lo dirás, ¿verdad?
‘You won’t tell him/her, will you?’
–Claro que no.
‘Of course not.’31.6.2.1 Latin American usage
A very colloquial negative expression in Latin America is ni modo, ‘no way’, ‘not a
chance’. It is particularly common in Mexico and Central America, but unknown in
the Southern Cone countries (Argentina, Uruguay, Chile).
–¿Conseguiste hablar con él?
‘Did you manage to speak to him?’
–No, ni modo, no quiso recibirme.
‘No, no way/not a chance, he didn’t want to receive me.’
ASKING QUESTIONS AND RESPONDING 31.6