Spanish Grammar Explained /
Any or none?
There are some words in Spanish that express an inaccurate amount of things or people.
Let's look at some examples of where this might come in handy, such as when you are not sure exactly how many or how much of something there is, but you want to talk about it all the same.
THINGS | PEOPLE |
+
Algo
¿Quieres algo para comer?
Do you want something to eat? | +
Alguien
¿Alguien quiere ir al cine?
Does someone want to go to the cinema? |
-
Nada
No hay nada para comer.
There isn't anything to eat. | -
Nadie
Nadie quiere ir al cine.
Nobody wants to go to the cinema. |
Let’s consider groups of things or people. Imagine we want to talk about some or none of them. To do so, we would use the following.
Algún
Alguno/-a/-os/-as | → | a, some, any |
Ningún
Ninguno/-a/-os/-as | → | no, none, any |
We use algún and ningún and their different forms before a noun, as adjectives.
We use alguno and ninguno and their different forms when their are standing alone, as pronouns.
¿Tienes algún pantalón negro para mí?
Do you have any black trousers for me?
No tengo ninguno.
I don't have any.
Ninguna camiseta me queda bien.
No T-shirt fits me.
No me queda ninguna.
None fit me.
¿Tienen alguna pregunta?
Do you have any questions?
Ellos tienen algunas.
They have some.
No queda ningún bombón.
There's no chocolate left.
No queda ninguno.
There is none left.
Watch out!
Algún and ningún are adjectives and will change depending on the noun that they accompany. Both of them are used instead of alguno and ninguno when talking about a masculine noun.
Alguno lápiz. → Algún lápiz.