no

[ˈno]

/[ˈno]/ adv

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“no” is in the everyday core of Spanish, ranked #9 in Spanish word frequency and used as an adverb.

#9
frequency rank, Spanish
2
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Adverbio de negación, respondiendo a una pregunta.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

no vs ny
50% similar
no vs nu
50% similar
no vs nt
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for no
PropertyValue
Headwordno
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechAdverb
IPA[ˈno]
Letters2
Frequency rank#9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “no” sits in Spanish frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). no lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The Spanish entry for no is 2 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈno]. Corpus data places it at rank #9 in overall Spanish word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for no, suggesting the orthography follows predictable Spanish patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ny", "nu", "nt", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct Spanish form is no, spelled N-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    Adverbio de negación, respondiendo a una pregunta.
  2. 2
    Adverbio de negación, negando la frase o expresión que sigue.
  3. 3
    Adverbio de negación, que niega la existencia o realidad del concepto expresado por el adjetivo o sustantivo al que antecede.
  4. 4
    Adverbio de negación necesario al comienzo de las frases con nada, nadie, nunca, y otras negaciones después del verbo.
  5. 5
    Adverbio de negación, usado en frases interrogativas cuando se espera una respuesta positiva.
  6. 6
    Adverbio de negación expletivo, que en comparaciones no niega, sino que refuerza la contraposición de las ideas.
  7. 7
    Manera irónica y sarcástica para responder una pregunta tonta por tratarse de algo obvio.

Antonyms

sí

This word in other languages

no(English)non(Français)nein(Deutsch)não(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "no"?
"no" is spelled N-O. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈno].
What does "no" mean?
As an adverb, "no" means: Adverbio de negación, respondiendo a una pregunta.
What words are commonly confused with "no"?
"no" is commonly confused with "ny", "nu", "nt". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "no"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "no" is [ˈno]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "no" come from?
"no" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “no”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct Spanish spelling is N-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [ˈno] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “ny” - see the side-by-side comparison. no vs ny
  • Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list