In Portuguese, negation involves using specific words to express the absence or the opposite of an action, event, or state. The key negative words include não, nenhum, nenhuma, nunca, jamais, nada, and ninguém. These words are essential for forming negative sentences.

Simple Negation

Não

Não is the most common word for negation and is equivalent to "not" or "no" in English. It's typically placed before the verb to negate the sentence.

Examples:

• Eu não gosto de café. (I do not like coffee.)
• Ele não vai à festa. (He is not going to the party.)
• Ela não está em casa. (She is not at home.)

Nenhum / Nenhuma

Nenhum and nenhuma are used to express "none" or "not any" and agree in gender with the noun they modify.

Examples:

• Não há nenhum problema. (There is no problem.)
• Ela não encontrou nenhuma pista. (She found no clue.)
• Nenhum aluno faltou à aula. (No student missed the class.)

Nunca

Nunca means "never" and is used to denote actions that have not been, or will not be, performed at any time.

Examples:

• Eu nunca fui ao Brasil. (I have never been to Brazil.)
• Ele nunca mente. (He never lies.)
• Nós nunca nos encontramos. (We never met.)

Negative Words

Jamais

Jamais is a stronger form of "never", similar to "not ever" in English, and can emphasize an action that will never occur.

Examples:

• Jamais esquecerei este dia. (I will never forget this day.)
• Você deve jamais desistir. (You must never give up.)
• Eles jamais concordaram. (They never agreed.)

Nada

Nada means "nothing" and is used to indicate the absence of anything.

Examples:

• Eu não vejo nada. (I do not see anything.)
• Nada pode ser feito. (Nothing can be done.)
• Ela não tem nada a dizer. (She has nothing to say.)

Ninguém

Ninguém means "nobody" and is used to indicate that no person is involved.

Examples:

• Ninguém sabe a resposta. (Nobody knows the answer.)
• Eu vi ninguém na rua. (I saw nobody on the street.)
• Ninguém veio à festa. (Nobody came to the party.)

In the Portuguese language, it's common to use double negatives (e.g., não and nada), which are different from English constructions where the double negatives negate each other. In Portuguese, they emphasize the negation, as in Eu não vi nada (I didn't see anything).