Indefinite pronouns are a small group of pronouns such as everything, nobody or something, which are used to refer to people or things in a general way, without saying exactly who, what or how many they are. Now let’s see the Spanish one:
Indefinite pronouns examples
Here you have some of the most important Spanish indefinite pronouns:
1. Alguien “somebody/anybody” is used in affirmative or interrogative sentences to refer to a person. Algo “something/anything” is the equivalent pronoun used to refer to a thing.
He visto a alguien en la puerta (I have seen somebody at the door)
Tengo algo para ti (I have something for you)
2. The negative form of alguien is nadie “no one” and the negative form of algo is nada “nothing”. Notice that Spanish uses double negatives, unlike English.
No he visto a nadie en la puerta (I haven’t seen anyone at the door)
No tengo nada para ti (I have nothing for you)
3. Alguno/a (some, any) shortens to algún before a masculine, singular noun, and varies in gender and number according to the noun it refers to alguno, alguna, algunos, algunas:
| ¿Hay algún museo en la ciudad? Necesito un taxi. ¿Ve Ud. alguno? Algunas sociedades son muy estrictas. | (Is there any museum in the city?) (I need a taxi. Do you see any?) (Some societies are very strict). |
4. Ninguno/a (none, no) shortens to ningún before a masculine, singular noun. When it follows the verb, a double negative is required:
| No hay ningún problema. ¿Tenéis amigos? No tenemos ninguno. Ninguna sociedad es perfecta. | (There is no problem). (Do you have any friends? We have none). (No society is perfect). |
Click on the link if you want to learn more about the Spanish indefinite pronouns in a video.
Spanish indefinite pronouns exercises and practice
Now it is time to practice what you have learned with some interactive exercises. Remember you can contact your tutor with any question you have about Spanish indefinite pronouns. Don’t you have an online Spanish tutor yet?