Today’s Spanish word of the day is “alguno” in the masculine form, or “alguna” in the feminine form.
It’s a very versatile adjective that can translate as “some”, “any”, “a few” or “one” depending on the context.
It comes the Latin words aliquis (“someone”) and unos (“one”).
When used before a singular masculine noun, it loses the final syllable and is written as “algún”, for example “Necesito algún consejo” (“I need some advice”).
This loss of the final syllable is a grammatical feature known as apocope which affects quite a few other Spanish adjectives when used before a singular masculine noun, for example:
- Primero → Primer – El primer día. – The first day.
- Bueno → Buen – Un buen amigo. – A good friend.
- Santo → San – San Francisco. – Saint Francis.
- Grande → Gran – Una gran oportunidad. – A great opportunity. (This example affects feminine nouns as well as masculine nouns).
Example sentences
Alguno de mis vecinos tiene un perro muy ruidoso.
One of my neighbors has a very noisy dog.
Voy a comprar algunas frutas en el mercado.
I’m going to buy some fruits at the market.
En algún rincón del mundo, existe un lugar perfecto para ti.
Somewhere in the world, there is a perfect place for you.
He leído algunos libros de ese autor.
I have read some books by that author.
¿Hay alguna pregunta?
Are there any questions?
