Today’s Spanish word of the day is “ninguno”.
It’s a versatile word that can be used as an adjective or a pronoun depending on the context.
When used in affirmative clauses, it can translate as “no”, “none”, “no one” or “nobody”, for example:
- Tengo ninguno. – I have none.
Since Spanish uses double negatives while English does not, when the word “ninguno” is used in negative clauses, it can translate into English as “any”, “one” or “a”, for example:
- No tengo ninguno. – I don’t have any.
The phrase “no tengo ninguno” could be literally translated as “I don’t have none”, but this would normally be grammatically incorrect in English.
Like the opposite word “alguno” (“some”), it loses the final syllable when used before a singular masculine noun and becomes “ningún”, for example:
- No tengo ningún problema con eso. – I don’t have a problem with that.
Example sentences
Ninguno de los trabajos que he probado me ha hecho feliz.
None of the jobs I’ve tried has made me happy.
No tengo ninguno de esos ingredientes para la receta.
I don’t have any of those ingredients for the recipe.
Ninguno de los libros que había leído me preparó para lo que experimenté ese día.
None of the books I had read prepared me for what I experienced that day.
Ninguno de los participantes llegó preparado.
None of the participants arrived prepared.
Ninguno de los problemas tiene una solución sencilla.
None of the problems has a simple solution.
