nunca
never
Reviewed by: David WestfallCofounder
Used to say that something happens on no occasion at all
Encoding Strategies:
mnemonic
nun
religious woman
+
-ca
word ending
Nunca means never and sounds like the English word nun0, since a nun never breaks her vows.
nunca
never, not ever
At no point in time.
Nunca he probado el sushiI have never tried sushi
Ella nunca llega tarde a claseShe does not ever arrive late to class
ever (after a negative)
Used to add emphasis to a sentence that is already negative. English adds the same emphasis with "not ... ever" but Spanish does it with "not ... never." Double negatives aren't allowed in English but they are in Spanish.
No quiero verlo nuncaI don't ever want to see him (I don't never want to see him)
Aquí no pasa nunca nada interesanteNothing interesting ever happens here (Nothing interesting never happens here)
nunca más
never again, no more
Used to say that something will not happen again from this point on. Literally "never more."
Después de esa noche, nunca más volví a ese barAfter that night, I never went back to that bar again (Never more I returned to that bar)
Nunca más pienso prestarle dineroNo more lending him money as far as I'm concerned (Never more do I think about lending him money)
más que nunca
more than ever
Used to say that something is greater now than at any time before. Literally "more than never," nunca refers to all the earlier moments when this level had never been reached, which we've now surpassed.
Te necesito más que nuncaI need you more than ever (I need you more than never)
El río está más alto que nunca este añoThe river is higher than ever this year (higher than never)
casi nunca
hardly ever, almost never
Used to say that something happens only on rare occasions. Literally "almost never," which leaves room for the occasional exception.
Casi nunca como carneI hardly ever eat meat (I almost never eat meat)
Mi hermano casi nunca contesta el teléfonoMy brother almost never answers the phone
nunca jamás
never ever, never in my life (emphatic)
Used to rule something out completely, with no exceptions. Literally "never never," since jamás is a stronger, more emphatic word for never. English does the same doubling with "never ever."
Nunca jamás voy a olvidar ese díaI will never ever forget that day (I will never, NEVER forget that day)
Nunca jamás había visto algo asíNever in my life had I seen something like that (Never, NEVER had I seen something like that)