Grammar: Negation

Negation in Russian

The basic way to negate a statement in Russian is to add the word не before the verb. For example, “I am reading” becomes “I am not reading” by adding не before the verb (Я не читаю).
When не is used before a noun or an adjective, it denies the entire quality. For example, “Это не мой дом” (This is not my house).
The word ни is used to intensify negation. It can translate as “not … either” or “neither … nor”. For example, “Я ни читаю, ни пишу” (I neither read nor write).
The word никогда means “never”. When used with the negative не, it forms double negation in Russian grammar. For example, “Я никогда не говорил это” (I never said that).
Similar to никогда, “nowhere” is нигде, “nothing” is ничего, “no one” or “nobody” is никто, and “none” or “not any” is ни один. Each of these can be used with не for a double negation structure.
For negation involving the verbs have and need, Russians use the word “нет”. For example, “У меня нет книг” (I don’t have any books) or “Мне не надо книг” (I don’t need books).
A common mistake by English speakers learning Russian is to try to use “no” (нет) where we’d normally use “not” (не). It is crucial not to mix up these two words.
Pay attention to verb tense after не. Remember that Russian has different verb forms for past, present and future tenses.
Note that Russian language, unlike English, commonly uses double negatives. For example, “I don’t see nothing” would not correct in English, but in Russian it’s perfectly fine (Я не вижу ничего).
Also beware of negations in questions. In English, you might ask “Don’t you have any milk?” But in Russian, the question would be worded positively with a negative expectation: “У вас есть молоко?” The speaker’s tone and context would imply the expected negative answer.