Today’s Spanish word of the day is “nadie”.
It’s an indefinite pronoun meaning “nobody” or “no one”.
Since Spanish uses double negatives, there are times when it can also be translated into English as “anybody” or “anyone”.
For example, “no hay nadie” literally means “there isn’t nobody”, but would be translated as “there isn’t anybody” since using a double negative is considered incorrect in English.
Example sentences
Nadie vino a la fiesta.
Nobody came to the party.
Nadie es perfecto. Todos cometemos errores.
Nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes.
En el parque no había nadie.
There was nobody in the park.
Nadie respondió cuando llamé a la puerta.
Nobody answered when I knocked on the door.
Nadie puede predecir el futuro con certeza.
Nobody can predict the future with certainty.
Where does the word “nadie” come from?
The word “nadie” has an interesting backstory.
A common phrase in Latin was “homines nati non fecerunt”, meaning “born men did not do it”.
The implication was that if born men didn’t do it, then nobody did.
Hence, the word “nati” in this phrase, came to mean “nobody”.
The pronunciation gradually changed, leaving the word “nadie” rather than “nati”.
