13.3. Omitting “Non”

Certain negative words (pronouns, adverbs and an adjective) can be used at the beginning of a sentence to avoid using "non" later.

Observe these two negative sentence structures:

1. Non + Verb + Negative Word
2. Negative Word + Verb

Negative Indefinite Pronouns

Necausa	Nothing / Anything
Necuno	Nobody / No one / Anyone

Negative Adverbs

Jamàis / Nunca	Never
Altronón	Neither / Either

Negative Indefinite Adjective

Necuno / Necún	No / Not one

With all this information in mind, observe the examples below.

Non veniu necuno. / Necuno veniu.	No one came.
Non me importa necausa. / Necausa me importa.	Nothing matters to me. / I do not care about anything.
Non te vedo jamàis. / Jamàis te vedo.	I never see you.
Non me placen altronón los fructos de mare. / Altronón me placen los fructos de mare.	I do not like sea food either.
Non me interessa necún libro. / Necún libro me interessa.	No book interests me.

Both versions of the sentences above are equally valid and have the same meaning. However, it is worth noting the following. Firstly, the first structure is more common in general and is therefore, the "safer" construction. One exception to this is the adverb "altronón", whose corresponding translations in Romance languages ("tampoco" in Spanish and "neanche/nemmeno/neppure" in Italian) tend to be placed at the beginning of the sentence.

Secondly, the second structure is more emphatic because the sentence starts with the negative word in question. Because this structure is less common, there is a risk of saying things that are structurally correct in theory, but would sound strange to native Romance speakers. For example, to saying "I do not want anything", the more natural translation would be "Non vòllîo necausa" instead of "Necausa vòllîo".