Hola ¿Cómo estáis?

In this Beginner Level Spanish lesson we will learn all about Spanish indefinite pronouns and adjectives. These are words such as some, any, something, and anything in English.

As with English, the Spanish indefinite pronoun or adjective you use depends on whether the sentence is negative, positive or a question. In English we say “some trees”, for example, when we have a positive affirmation that there are some trees, “no trees” for a negative statement that there aren’t any trees and “any trees” for a question about whether there are any trees. In Spanish you will also have to remember various combinations of indefinite pronoun and adjective and we also have a masculine and feminine version and a singular and plural version.

Please repeat each after me and then practice as much as you can after the lesson by writing example sentences in Spanish using all of the different combinations:

• Algún/a: Some/Any (in positive sentences and questions)
• Alguno/alguna: Some/Any (in positive sentence and questions)
• Algunos/algunas: Some/Any (in positive sentence and questions)
• Ningún/ninguna: Any/No (in negative sentences)
• Ningúno/ninguna: Any/None (in negative sentences)
• Algo: Something/Anything (in positive sentence and questions)
• Nada: Nothing/Anything (in negative sentences)
• Alguien: Someone/Anyone (in positive sentence and questions)
• Nadie: No one/Anyone (in negative sentences)
• Algo de: Some/Any (part of something) (in positive sentence and questions)
• Nada de: None/Any (part of something) (in negative sentences)
• Nunca: Never

Let´s see now some examples of Spanish indefinite pronouns and adjectives in use:

• Algún: ¿Conoces a algún médico?: Do you know a doctor?
• Algún: Sí, conozco a algún médico. Yes, I know a doctor

• Alguno: Sí, conozco alguno: Yes, I know some
• Algunos: Sí, conozco a algunos médicos: Yes, I know some doctors

• Ningún: No, no conozco a ningún médico: No, I don´t know a doctor
• Ninguno: No, no conozco a ninguno: No, I don´t know any

• Algo: ¿Quieres algo?: Do you want anything?
• Nada: No quiero nada: I don´t want anything

• Alguien: ¿Conoces a alguien en esta ciudad?: Do you know anybody in this city?
• Nadie: No conozco a nadie: I don´t know anybody

• Algo de: ¿Sabes algo de inglés?: Do you know any English?
• Nada de: No sé nada de inglés: I don´t know any English

We will see now how to make negative sentences in Spanish using indefinite pronouns. You will need to use a “no” before the verb when the indefinite pronoun follows the verb, but you don´t use a “no” if it precedes the verb. Let´s see some examples:

• No viene nadie a mi casa: Nobody comes to my house
• Nadie viene a mi casa: Nobody comes to my house

• No dices nada correcto: You don´t say anything correct
• Nada de lo que dices es correcto: Nothing of what you say is correct

• No está nunca en casa: He is never at home
• Nunca está en casa: He is never at home

The key to remembering and using Spanish indefinite pronouns and adjectives well is to practice with them a lot. Work first on trying to remember off-by-heart all of the different Spanish equivalents for words such as Some, Any, None, Anything, etc, and then try to remember all of the different combinations so that you know exactly when to use one or the other.

Once you have all of the words more or less clear in your head you can start using them in your conversation and writing. This is, of course, the fun part. This is when you put all your hard work into practice and really start to understand how the words work. Once you have used them a few times you will find them so much easier to remember. Also, don’t forget to listen and look out for them when you listen to native speakers or read texts.

Good luck with all of this and enjoy your Spanish!