Nunca and jamás are very similar negative adverbs with the meaning of ‘never’. What are the differences between those two Spanish words and how we use them in a sentence?
As we said Spanish word nunca means ‘never’.
Nunca he estado en Valencia. (I’ve never been to Valencia.)
Nunca viajo en avión. (I never travel by plane.) – because I always travel by car or by bus.
Jamás is stronger version of nunca, it’s more ‘radical’ and is more emotional. It usually refers to the future, not to the past.
Jamás viajo en avión. (I never travel by plane.) – because I’m scared of flying.
Jamás te olvidaré. (I will never forget you.)
We use nunca jamás (never ever) to give even more emphasis.
No quiero verte nunca jamás. (I don’t want to see you ever again.)
No voy a ir a este restaurante nunca jamás. La comida era un desastre. (I’m not going to this restaurant ever again. The food was horrible.)
Let’s have a look at the position of nunca and jamás in the sentence. We have two options:
If the negative adverb goes before the verb we don’t use no (nunca + affirmative verb):
Nunca voy a la peluquería. (I never go to hairdresser’s.)
However, if the negative adverb goes after the verb, we have to use no (negative verb + nunca):
No voy nunca a la peluquería. (I never go to hairdresser’s.)
Another way to say ‘never’ is nunca en mi vida or just en mi vida.
Nunca en mi vida he bailado Samba. (Never in my life I have danced Samba.)
En mi vida me imaginaba que conduciría un Bentley. (I never imagined that I would drive a Bentley.)
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