Negative pronouns nada, nadie, ninguno

Nadie puede hacer nada

After having learned Spanish undetermined pronouns algo, alguien and alguno, let’s know get familiar with their negative equivalents nada, nadie and ninguno.

Nada

nada – nothing, anything in a negative sentence

Nada is used to replace inanimate objects.

No veo nada – I see nothing. I don’t see anything

¿Hay algo en la mochila? – Is there anything in the backpack?

No, en la mochila no hay nada – No, there is nothing in the backpack

Mi hermano no hace nada – My brother doesn’t do anything

Try it yourself:

We don’t want anything

I don’t know anything

The pupils don’t remember anything

We don’t want to eat anything

Nadie

nadie – nobody, anybody in a negative sentence

Nadie replaces a person.

En la calle no hay nadie – There is nobody in the street

¿Llamas a alguien? – Do you call anybody?

No, no llamo a nadie – No, I don’t call anybody

If there is an action directed to nadie, use a.

Laura no escucha a nadie – Laura doesn’t listen to anybody

No necesitamos a nadie – We don’t need anyone

Spanish negative sentences, and nadie in particular, have one important feature, that you should always keep in mind.

If nadie plays the role of the main subject in a sentence and comes before a verb, the negative word no before the verb is omitted.

Nadie vive aquí – Nobody lives here

Don’t say: Nadie no vive aquí

However, if you put nadie at any place after the verb, no should be brought back.

Aquí no vive nadie – literally, Here doesn’t live anybody

This is called double negative. In Spanish the rule is quite simple – a verb needs only one negative word in front of it. It can be no, or it can be another negative element. Simply, don’t put two negative words before a verb.

Try it yourself:

I don’t see anybody here

Laura doesn’t love anyone

Nobody helps me cook the soup

Nobody works on Sunday

Ninguno

ninguno – no + noun, any + noun in a negative sentence

Ninguno is referred to a noun and takes its form.

ningún plan – no plan

ninguna duda – no doubt

ningunos libros – no books

ningunas palabras – no words

No tengo ningún trabajo – I don’t have any job

No veo ninguna estrella – I don’t see any star

No vemos ningunas series Netflix – We don’t watch any Netflix series

The word ninguno is produced from the expression ni uno – no one. This might help, because you know how to use uno.

¿Tienes alguna amiga en París?

No, no tengo ninguna amiga allí

No, no tengo ninguna

¿Tenéis algún problema?

No, no tenemos ningún problema

No, no tenemos ninguno

ninguno de – none of

Ninguno de nosotros – None of us

Ninguna de estas ideas es buena – None of these ideas is good

Ninguno can also be used as a negative element in front of a verb. In this case, as you know, the second no should be missing.

Ninguno de nosotros sabe italiano – None of us knows Italian

Try it yourself:

Do you have any questions?

No, I don’t have any question

None of these shops is open now

I don’t see any phone under the table