CEFR A1
What you will learn
- Connect an agreeing reply to the intended person and proposition.
- Preserve positive and negative facts when repairing a short exchange.
- Withhold agreement when the speaker’s own position is unknown.
Before you start
- Know the regular present, basic questions and noun agreement. Use the linked lessons for the forms needed here.
- Use only simple present statements and spatial or personal facts on this page.
The idea
También adds a person or fact to an affirmative statement. Tampoco adds one to a negative statement. In a short reply, the verb may be understood from the message being answered: “Yo también” or “Yo tampoco”. This economy works only when the intended message is clear. Agreement is about a whole proposition, not just a word nearby. “No vivo aquí” and “No trabajo aquí” share no and aquí, but they concern different facts. Matching the last negative word does not establish that you share the same fact.
To contrast with a positive statement, use a negative reply such as “Yo no”. To contrast with a negative statement, use “Yo sí”. These contrast replies are not interchangeable with también and tampoco.
This page uses complete named statements when several people are speaking. With tampoco before a simple finite verb, the neutral pattern is “Yo tampoco trabajo aquí”. If the original statement concerns your companion and you do not know their answer, ask; do not invent a shared preference.
Reference: form and meaning
| Other person’s statement | Your own fact | Neutral short reply |
|---|---|---|
| affirmative | same affirmative fact | Yo también. |
| negative | same negative fact | Yo tampoco. |
| affirmative | opposite: your fact is negative | Yo no. |
| negative | opposite: your fact is affirmative | Yo sí. |
Each short reply borrows its predicate from the intended statement. Repeat the predicate when two different statements compete.
How it sounds
- Alicia, yo tampoco viajo a Toledo.Find the stated addressee, Alicia. The speaker’s own negative travel fact matches hers. Miguel asserts the opposite fact, so the same short reply cannot agree with both. The reply borrows Alicia’s negative travel statement. Miguel’s statement is affirmative, so «Yo tampoco» would not express agreement with him.
Transfer 1A different case
P1. Nora says «No trabajo los domingos». P2. Iván says «Trabajo en una tienda». P3. You work in a shop but never on Sundays. Write one agreeing Spanish reply to each person, naming the person and repeating the relevant predicate.
P1. Sira says «Leo por la noche». P2. Pablo says «No leo en el autobús». P3. You read at night but not on the bus. Write two agreeing Spanish replies with named addressees and explicit predicates.
Answer available without interaction
Answer: Your answer: Spanish wording and any requested English comment: Nora, yo tampoco trabajo los domingos. Iván, yo también trabajo en una tienda.
Model answer: Nora, yo tampoco trabajo los domingos. Iván, yo también trabajo en una tienda.
Criteria for reviewing your answer:
- Agrees negatively with Nora about Sunday work.
- Agrees affirmatively with Iván about shop work and makes both addressees explicit.
The two replies agree with different facts: negative Sunday work and affirmative shop work. Repeating each predicate keeps the reference explicit.
Answer: Your answer: Spanish wording and any requested English comment: Sira, yo también leo por la noche. Pablo, yo tampoco leo en el autobús.
Model answer: Sira, yo también leo por la noche. Pablo, yo tampoco leo en el autobús.
Criteria for reviewing your answer:
- Agrees with night reading.
- Agrees with negative bus reading and names the two addressees.
Night reading and bus reading are separate facts with different polarity.
Transfer 2A different case
P1. Eva says «No tengo coche». P2. You own a car but do not own a bicycle. P3. A draft reply to Eva is «Yo tampoco tengo bicicleta». Rewrite the reply so it contrasts with Eva’s exact fact, then state the bicycle fact separately in Spanish.
P1. Daniel says «Tengo perro». P2. You do not have a dog but you have a cat. P3. A draft reply is «Yo también tengo gato». Repair the reply to contrast about the dog and report the cat separately in Spanish.
Answer available without interaction
Answer: Your answer: Spanish wording and any requested English comment: Yo sí tengo coche. No tengo bicicleta.
Model answer: Yo sí tengo coche. No tengo bicicleta.
Criteria for reviewing your answer:
- Contrasts affirmatively about the car.
- Keeps the separate negative bicycle fact without presenting it as agreement about a car.
Not owning a bicycle does not agree with not owning a car. The response about the car is affirmative contrast; the bicycle fact needs its own sentence.
Answer: Your answer: Spanish wording and any requested English comment: Yo no tengo perro. Tengo gato.
Model answer: Yo no tengo perro. Tengo gato.
Criteria for reviewing your answer:
- Negates having a dog.
- Affirms having a cat as a separate proposition.
The cat fact is not an agreeing reply about the dog; negative contrast and the separate cat fact must both be preserved.
Transfer 3A different case
P1. Leo says «Vivo cerca de la estación». P2. Marta is also in the conversation, but you do not know where she lives. P3. Before saying «Marta también» to Leo, write the Spanish question you would ask Marta, and state in English whether «Marta también» is supported now.
P1. Alma says «No estudio los sábados». P2. You want to report whether Raúl shares this, but his study days are unknown. P3. Ask Raúl the relevant question in Spanish and explain in English whether «Raúl tampoco» is established.
Answer available without interaction
Answer: Your answer: Spanish wording and any requested English comment: Marta, ¿vives cerca de la estación? The agreement is not yet supported.
Model answer: Marta, ¿vives cerca de la estación? The agreement is not yet supported.
Criteria for reviewing your answer:
- Asks Marta about living near the station.
- Does not infer Marta’s answer from Leo’s statement.
Leo’s address does not establish Marta’s. The question repeats the relevant predicate and leaves her answer open.
Answer: Your answer: Spanish wording and any requested English comment: Raúl, ¿estudias los sábados? The negative agreement is not established.
Model answer: Raúl, ¿estudias los sábados? The negative agreement is not established.
Criteria for reviewing your answer:
- Asks about Raúl’s Saturday study.
- Leaves Raúl’s answer open.
The question must concern Saturdays, not study in general. Alma’s schedule does not determine Raúl’s.
What your own language pushes you to say
Wrong Ana: No como carne. Yo: Yo también como carne.
Right Ana: No como carne. Yo: Yo tampoco como carne.
If the speaker also does not eat meat, the shared fact is negative. The correction is for that intention; an affirmative contrast would require a different message.
Transfer 4: combine the distinctions
P1. In a group, Luis says «No desayuno en casa» and Bea says «Desayuno en casa». P2. You do eat breakfast at home, but you do not have lunch (la comida / el almuerzo) there. P3. Reply directly to Luis and to Bea, using their names, so that each reply matches your own breakfast fact. Add your lunch fact as a separate Spanish sentence.
Answer available without interaction
- Addresses Luis with affirmative contrast about breakfast.
- Addresses Bea with affirmative agreement about breakfast.
- Reports lunch separately and does not change its negation; «No como en casa al mediodía» and «No almuerzo en casa» are both valid, but a bare «No como en casa» can be read as «I do not eat at home» in many varieties.
Answer: Luis, yo sí desayuno en casa. Bea, yo también desayuno en casa. No como en casa al mediodía.
Breakfast agrees with Bea and contrasts with Luis; the lunch fact is negative but cannot be attached to Luis’s breakfast statement as negative agreement.
Curriculum alignment and sources
- PCIC §6.2, A1 column: también and tampoco. The split into A1.2 and the sequence of tasks are editorial. · Plan Curricular del Instituto Cervantes: Gramática, inventario A1-A2
Continue along this corridor
Practise this: “No tengo nada”: two negatives are rightQuestions and negatives: less machinery than EnglishThe present tense: three endings to start speaking