How to Say "It Is Not" in Spanish

no es

/no es/from spelling rules

The English phrase "it is not" is translated into Spanish as no es.

no es is used to state that something does not possess a particular identity or an inherent quality.

What does it mean word for word?

The phrase is composed of no (not) and es (is).

no es is used for identity or inherent qualities, whereas no está would be used to say something is not in a certain location or state.

In Spanish, the subject pronoun 'it' is typically omitted, so no es can mean 'it is not', 'he is not' or 'she is not' depending on the context.

/no es/

Spanish speakers sometimes use no es in a rhetorical way to soften a criticism, similar to how English speakers say 'it's not that it's bad, but…'.
The word es is a distant cousin of the English word 'is', as both trace their roots back to the Proto-Indo-European word h₁ésti.
While no es is a simple negation, adding no es así is a common idiomatic way to say 'that is not the case'.

No es un reloj.
It is not a watch.
Tatoeba #710678 by Shishir, translation #710676 by CM
No, no es gato.
No, it is not a cat.
Tatoeba #5227197 by cueyayotl, translation #5228517 by solejar
No es asunto mío.
It is not my business.
Tatoeba #508087 by Shishir, translation #4306265 by burak
No es posible.
It is not possible.
No es correcto.
It is not correct.
No es necesario.
It is not necessary.
El informe no está terminado.
The report is not finished.
La reunión no está en la sala de conferencias.
The meeting is not in the conference room.
No es así como se hace.
It is not done like that.
No es así de fácil.
It is not that easy.
No es cosa fácil.
It is not an easy thing.
No es cosa de todos los días.
It is not an everyday thing.
98 more sentences on Tatoeba

Alejandro and Lucía are looking at a piece of fruit in the kitchen.

Sources

IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
Word origins: Wiktionary entries es, no, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.

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