How To Say Never in Spanish

Spanish has two common adverbs that mean never and they can almost always be used interchangeably, the words nunca and  jamà ¡s. Most Common Way to Say Never The most common way to say never is nunca. It comes from the Old Spanish word nunqua, which entered the language from the Latin word for never, numquam. Spanish Sentence English Translation Nunca olvidarà © Madrid. I'll never forget Madrid. Brittany y Pablo nunca fueron amigos. Brittany and Pablo were never friends. El presidente no ha hablado nunca a favor de imponer sanciones. The president never has spoken in favor of imposing sanctions. Nunca quiero que llegue ese dà ­a. I never want that day to come. Slightly More Emphatic Way to Say Never Less used, and perhaps a bit stronger than nunca, is the word  jamà ¡s, also meaning never.  Jamà ¡s could be substituted in place of the word  nunca.   Spanish Sentence English Translation Es el mejor libro jamà ¡s escrito. It's the best book never written. Jamà ¡s pienso en la muerte. I never think about death. Jamà ¡s imaginà © que llegarà ­a este dà ­a. I never imagined this day would come. Quiero dormirme y no despertarme jamà ¡s. I want to fall asleep and never wake up. When Never to Use Jamà ¡s One of the very few times you cannot substitute jamà ¡s for nunca is in the phrases mà ¡s que nunca and menos que nunca, which mean more than ever or less than ever. For example,  Mi hermano gasta mà ¡s que nunca, which means, My brother is spending more than ever. Double Negative Never Spanish is very comfortable with double negative sentence construction, unlike English, which shuns it. When nunca or jamà ¡s follows the verb that it modifies, use a double negative sentence construction. Spanish Sentence English Translation No he visto a nadie jamà ¡s tan malo. I have never seen anyone so bad. No discutas nunca con un imbà ©cil, te harà ¡ descender a su nivel. Never discuss anything with an idiot; he will bring you down to his level. Never Ever in Spanish Also, nunca and jamà ¡s can be used together to reinforce their meanings, or strengthen the feeling, much like never, never or never ever in English.   Spanish Sentence English Translation Nunca jamà ¡s vayamos a aceptar una dictadura militar. Never, ever are we going to accept a military dictatorship. Nunca jamà ¡s hablà © con nadie de esto. Never, no, never have I spoken with anybody about this. Colloquial Expressions That Mean Never There are several figurative expressions that mean never that do not use the words nunca or jamà ¡s.   Spanish Phrase English Translation  ¿en serio?;  ¡no puede ser! Never! or You never did! no lleguà © a ir I never went no contaba con volverlo a ver I never expected to see him again no importa; no te preocupes Nevermind ni uno siquiera Never a one  ¡no me digas!;  ¡no me lo puedo creer! Well, I never! no dijo ni una sola palabra Never a word [did he say]