no fui yo
/no fwi ʝo/from spelling rules
no fui yo is the Spanish way to say 'it wasn't me'.
This phrase is used to deny responsibility for a specific action or to claim that you did not perform a particular task.
Which one should you use?
You should use no fui yo to deny a specific completed act, such as breaking a vase. In contrast, if you want to deny a habitual behavior or a characteristic of your personality in the past (for example, saying 'It wasn't me [acting that way]'), you would use no era yo.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In parts of Mexico, the informal phrase No fui yo, carnal can be used to say 'It wasn't me'.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase no fui yo uses the preterite tense to refer to a specific completed action in the past. If you are adding a relative clause to the end, such as 'it wasn't me who…', use the structure no fui yo quien… followed by a third-person singular verb.
Did you know?
- When using no fui yo, the verb fui literally means 'I was' or 'I went', as it is the past tense of ser and ir.
- In Mexico, the word carnal added to no fui yo implies a bond as close as siblings, coming from the word for 'flesh'.
- The word yo shares a common ancestor with the Classical Latin 'egō̆', which is the root of the English word 'ego'.
Examples in context
- ¡No fui yo, comisario!It wasn't me, commissioner!This sentence shows how to address an authority figure using no fui yo.Tatoeba #2743 by Shishir, translation #1552 by kebukebu
- No fui yo, fue el gato.It wasn't me, it was the cat.This sentence demonstrates how to use no fui yo to shift blame to someone or something else.Tatoeba #1828733 by Shishir, translation #10079310 by Nylez
- No fui yo quien te insultó.It wasn't me who insulted you.This sentence illustrates the grammar rule for using no fui yo with a relative clause.Tatoeba #6001886 by pchamorro, translation #3362053 by CM
- No fui yo, ¡te juro!It wasn't me, I swear!
- Yo no tuve nada que ver, en serio.I had nothing to do with it, seriously.
- No fui yo, de verdad.It wasn't me, really.
- 3 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Elena and Javier are in the kitchen after a glass broke.
- Elena¿Quién rompió este vaso, Javier?Who broke this glass, Javier?
- JavierNo fui yo, lo juro.It wasn't me, I swear.
- ElenaEntonces, ¿quién fue?Then, who was it?
- JavierNo sé, pero no fui yo.I don't know, but it wasn't me.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries no, yo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
