In this article we´ll talk about some indefinite pronouns in Spanish, and in particular about the pronouns ALGUIEN, QUIENQUIERA and NADIE, which correspond to the English pronouns SOMEONE, NO ONE and WHOEVER. We´ll see how to use them in affirmative, interrogative and negative sentences.
Affirmative, Interrogative and Negative Sentences
The pronouns ALGUIEN and NADIE work exactly the same as ALGO and NADA, should you be familiar with those two. The difference is the former refer to people. So, in affirmative sentences we use ALGUIEN, which means SOMEONE, in interrogative sentences we also use ALGUIEN, which means ANYONE. In negative sentences we use NADIE, which means NO ONE.
| affirmative | Alguien ha venido. | Someone has come. |
| interrogative | ¿Ha venido alguien? | Has anyone come? |
| negative | No ha venido nadie. | No one has come. |
NADIE Before the Verb
There are some rules that apply to all negative pronouns as far as single or double negation is concerned. So, if NADIE is before the verb, we don’t use NO. Have a look:
| Nadie lo sabía. | No one knew it. |
| Nadie se lo ha dicho. | No one has told him that. |
| Nadie te había visto. | No one had seen you. |
NADIE After the Verb
On the other hand, if NADIE is after the verb, we use both NO and NADIE in the sentence:
| No han invitado a nadie. | They haven´t invited anyone. |
| No lo ha hecho nadie. | No one has done it. |
| Ese verano no nació nadie. | That summer no one was born. |
NADIE with or without NO
Let’s have a look at the rule one more time:
| Compare: | |
| Nadie estaba cantando. | nadie + verb |
| No estaba cantando nadie. | no + verb + nadie |
| No one was singing. |
QUIENQUIERA, QUIENESQUIERA
The next pronoun we’re going to talk about in this lecture is QUIENQUIERA. This form is used in singular. In plural we use the form QUIENESQUIERA. This pronoun refers to people and means WHOEVER. Have a look at how it’s used:
| Puedes venir con quienquiera. | You can come with whoever you wish. (with one person) |
| Puedes venir con quienesquiera. | You can come with whoever you wish. (with more than one person) |