Italian - English Dictionary
/non/
Non is the main Italian word for negation, equivalent to English 'not' or 'no'. It is used to negate verbs, adjectives, nouns, and other sentence elements.
| # | Type | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | determiner | non used to show an activity is forbidden | no |
| 2 | adverb | non negates meaning of another word | not |
| 3 | conjunction | non And not | not |
| 4 | determiner | non not any | no |
| 5 | verb | non do not | don't |
| 6 | adverb | non | not |
| 7 | adverb | non | un- |
| 8 | adverb | non | don't |
Non mi piace il caffè.
I don't like coffee.
Questo non è giusto.
This is not right.
Non abbiamo tempo.
We don't have time.
Non always comes before the verb or the word it negates in Italian. Unlike English, Italian often allows double negatives: 'non ho niente' (I don't have nothing/I have nothing) is standard. Do not place non after the verb.
Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Audio: Wikimedia Commons