nie som / nie je

Negative Forms of Byť

Level 1

To say "am not / is not / are not", put nie before the form of byť as a separate word: Nie som unavený. Peter nie je doma.

How It Works

The forms are always written as two words:

  • nie som (I am not), nie si (you are not), nie je (he, she, it is not)
  • nie sme (we are not), nie ste (you are not), nie sú (they are not)

Spellings like niesom or nieje are wrong, and so is nesom.

Only the present of byť works this way:

Word order stays the same as in the positive sentence, and questions work the same way: Nie si hladná? (Aren't you hungry?)

Examples (6)

  1. Nie som unavený.

    I'm not tired.

    Word by Word: Not am tired.

    A man speaking; a woman says Nie som unavená.

  2. Peter nie je doma.

    Peter isn't at home.

  3. Nie si hladná?

    Aren't you hungry?

    Asking a woman; the question keeps statement word order.

  4. Nie sme z Bratislavy.

    We're not from Bratislava.

  5. To nie je môj kufor.

    That's not my suitcase.

  6. Dnes nie sú v škole.

    They aren't at school today.

Common Mistakes

  • Joining ne- to the present of byť, as with other verbs.

    Nesom unavený.
    Nie som unavený.

    The present of byť is the one exception: it takes a separate nie.

  • Writing nie and the verb as one word.

    Niesom doma a Peter nieje v škole.
    Nie som doma a Peter nie je v škole.

    These forms are always written as two words: nie som, nie je.

  • Using a separate nie with other verbs.

    Nie mám čas.
    Nemám čas.

    Only the present of byť uses a separate nie. Other verbs take ne- joined to the verb.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

nie som / nie jeLevel 1Negative Forms of Byť

Learn This First

Before Negative Forms of byť, learn Present Tense of byť. nie som and nie je are the negated forms of byť.

Words in This Pattern