Negative Pronoun

---

Also Known As: Pronombre negativo in Spanish.

Definition: A pronoun that indicates the absence of people or other entities. In English, the negative pronouns are "neither," "nobody," "none," "no one" and "nothing." In Spanish, the negative pronouns are nada (meaning "nothing"), nadie (meaning "nobody") and ninguno (meaning "none" and referring to people or things). (Ninguno also exists in a feminine form, ninguna, and very rarely in a plural form that is sometimes considered substandard, ningunos or ningunas.) Note that in both languages many of these words are sometimes used as other parts of speech. In both English and Spanish, the the negative pronouns can function as either the subject of a sentence or the object of a verb or preposition. Because Spanish permits (and sometimes requires) the use of double negatives in sentences where English does not, negative pronouns aren't always translated as negative pronouns in English. Note that while the English "none" is usually treated as a grammatical plural, the Spanish equivalent ninguno is singular.

Examples:

Negative pronouns are in boldface: Nobody can guarantee you a number one position. (Nadie puede garantizarle el puesto número uno.) In reality, they know nothing. (En realidad no saben nada.) There are various classifications, although none are universally accepted. (Existen diversas clasificaciones, si bien ninguna es universalmente

---