Indefinite and Negative Words AP Spanish Indefinite and

Indefinite and Negative Words AP Spanish

Indefinite and Negative Words algo (something) nada (nothing) alguien (someone, anyone) nadie (no one, nobody) algún/alguno(a, os, as) ningún/ninguno(a, os, as) (some, any) (none, not any) siempre (always) nunca, jamás (never) también (also) tampoco (neither, not either) o…o… (either …or) ni…ni…(neither … nor)

Indefinite and Negative Words • To make a sentence negative, generally a no is placed in front of the conjugated verb. • If another negative word is used in front of the verb, no is not necessary. Nadie quiere comer. • If an object pronoun is in front of the verb, the negative word goes in front of the object pronoun. Nadie lo quiere.

Indefinite and Negative Words • Use as many negative words as necessary. (if one word is negative, they all are) Nadie quiere hacer nada. No veo a nadie nunca en este lugar.

Indefinite and Negative Words • Generally algún and ningún are used before masculine singular nouns and alguno is used when there is no noun or in the phrase “alguno de …” • alguna, algunos, algunas are used in front of nouns too.

Indefinite and Negative Words • A personal a is needed before alguien and nadie, and before ningún, ninguno, and ninguna when they refer to people. ¿Conoces a alguien allí? No invité a ninguno de mis amigos.

Indefinite and Negative Words • Nunca and jamás are synonyms but jamás is not used frequently. It is used in questions to mean ever. ¿Has caminado jamás tanto? Have you ever walked so much? • When alguno si used after a noun, it has a negative meaning. No hay posibilidad alguna de ir al campo.

pero and sino • pero is the equivalent to but in English. Llamé a Vicente pero ya había salido. I called Vicente but he had left already. • sino is the equivalent to but also, but really means “(but) rather” or “(but) instead”. • Sino: The 1 st part of the sentence must be negative. • Sino: It introduces an opposite or contrasting idea to the 1 st part of the sentence. Esa caja no es para mí sino para ti. That box is not for me but rather (instead) for you.

pero and sino • Sino que is used after a negative clause in a compound sentence if the second part has a conjugated verb (and thus needs que). • Sino que introduces an opposite or contrasting idea to the 1 st clause. No dijo que vendría sino que nos esperaría en la oficina. He didn’t say that he would come but rather (instead) that he would wait for us in the office.