Ningun vs Ninguno: What’s the Difference?
Ningún, ninguno, ninguna—what’s the difference?
They look similar but luckily it’s easy to distinguish one from the other in a sentence and to learn how to use them correctly.
Today, I promise I’ll leave you with no doubt about ningún, ninguno, and ninguna, and you’ll be able to check it yourself in a short quiz at the end of this article.
Ready? Let’s go.
Apocopes, Indefinite Adjectives, and Indefinite Pronouns
Before I start explaining the difference between ningún and ninguno, we need to cover the following terms:
- indefinite adjective
- pronoun
- apocope
Indefinite Adjectives
Let’s start with indefinite adjectives. Indefinite adjectives are (obviously) adjectives, meaning that they describe a noun. However, the difference between them and normal adjectives is that they describe nouns in a general or nonspecific way. They may also indicate a vague quantity. They still need to agree in number and sometimes in gender with the noun. They are identical to Spanish indefinite pronouns. (You’ll want to remember this one).
Some indefinite adjectives are:
- alguna (some)
- poco (little
- otra (other)
- varias (various)
- todas (all)
Hay otras posibilidades.
There are other possibilities.
Quiero varias opciones.
I want several options.
Hay poca audiencia.
There is little audience.
Indefinite Pronouns
Indefinite pronouns, on the other hand, are used in place of nouns. They are unspecific. Indefinite pronouns can be subjects, objects of a verb, or of a preposition.
Some indefinite adjectives are:
- algo (something)
- cada uno (each one)
- otros (others)
- varias (some, several)
- todo (everything)
¿Todo bien?
All good?
Me regalaron diez vestidos y quiero ponerme cada uno de ellos.
They gave me ten dresses and I want to wear each of them.
Alguien tiene que saber la respuesta.
Someone has to know the answer.
Apocopes
Some adjectives in Spanish have a short version called apócope (apocope). It consists of cutting off final sounds in certain formations, in the case of:
- gran instead of grande (big, great)
- buen instead of bueno (good)
- algún instead of alguno (any)
- cualquier instead of cualquiera (any, whatever)
- un instead of uno (a, one)
- san instead of santo (saint)
Eres un buen tipo.
You’re a good guy.
En algún lugar de La Mancha…
Somewhere in La Mancha…
Cualquier hombre va a querer esto.
Any man is going to want this.
¡Vamos a San Diego!
Let’s go to San Diego!
Ningún, Ninguno, Ninguna as Indefinite Adjectives
Ningún, ninguno, and ninguna can be indefinite adjectives meaning “no” or “none.” You can only use them in singular form—however, Real Academia Española accepts plural forms as a method of creating emphasis in your statement, like in this example:
No tenía ningunas ganas de quedarme.
I had no desire to stay.
Ningún is the apocope form of ninguno when it appears before masculine nouns:
Ningún hombre
No man
And an apocope form of ninguna before feminine nouns starting with stressed a or ha:
Ningún hambre
No hunger
These apocope forms appear only before the nouns. If you want to use them after the noun, you will always say ninguno for masculine nouns, and ninguna for all feminine nouns.
No me gusta ningún chico. / No me gusta chico ninguno.
I don’t like any boy.
No puedes imaginarte ningún águila feliz en el cautiverio. / No puedes imaginarte águila ninguna feliz en el cautiverio.
You can’t imagine any happy eagle in captivity.
A Thing About Negation
An important thing to note about these indefinite adjectives is that you need to negate the verb depending on the location of ningún / ninguno / ninguna.
For example, ningún / ninguno / ninguna appears after the verb, you need to use a negative statement, like this:
No se encontró ninguna evidencia.
No evidence was found.
If ningún / ninguno / ninguna comes first, the verb stays affirmative, like this:
Ninguna evidencia fue encontrada.
No evidence was found.
Ningún / Ninguno / Ninguna Meaning “Nada de”
Sometimes ningún / ninguno / ninguna expresses the idea of nada de (nothing of).
Este cuadro no tiene ningún valor. = Este cuadro no tiene nada de valor.
This painting has no value.
Su piel no tenía color ninguno. = Su piel no tenía nada de color.
His skin had no color at all.
No le pusiste ningún esfuerzo a tu trabajo. = No le pusiste nada de esfuerzo a tu trabajo.
You didn’t put any effort into your work.
Ningún / Ninguno / Ninguna Meaning “Uno”
Although it may seem surprising, you can sometimes translate ningún / ninguno / ninguna with an indefinite article “a,” meaning in Spanish uno, una.
Ella no es ninguna tonta; sabe lo que hace. = Ella no es una tonta; sabe lo que hace.
She is not a fool; she knows what she’s doing.
No es ningún secreto; te lo puedo decir. = No es un secreto; te lo puedo decir.
It’s not a secret; I can tell you.
Ninguno, Ninguna as Indefinite Pronouns
Ninguno and ninguna also appear as indefinite pronouns in a sentence. (But not ningún, as pronouns stand alone and cannot have apocope forms.) These pronouns mean ni uno, and we translate them to “any.”
Similar to the case of ningún, ninguno, and ninguna as indefinite adjectives, the position of ninguno and ninguna in a sentence determines if the verb appears in an affirmative or negative form. If the verb precedes the indefinite pronoun, it must be negated. If the indefinite pronoun comes first, the verb stays affirmative.
No puedo decidir entre las sopas. No me gusta ninguna.
I can’t decide between the soups. I do not like any.
Ninguna me gusta. No puedo decidir.
I don’t like any of them. I can’t decide.
Ninguno de, Ninguna de
You can also use ninguno and ninguna as indefinite pronouns with a preposition de. The verb must agree with the indefinite pronoun.
Ninguna de ellas sabe volar.
None of them know how to fly.
No me gusta ninguno de estos coches.
I don’t like any of these cars.
Ningún, Ninguno, Ninguna – Exercises
Now that you know the theory, let’s see if you can apply your newly acquired knowledge.
Fill in the blanks with ningún / ninguno / ninguna.
- ____________ de los alumnos es mi preferido.
- No tengo ____________ amigo que sepa cantar bien.
- Mi perro no es ____________ guardian. Le dan miedo hasta los gatos del vecino.
- No tengo hambre ____________. He desayunado tres veces.
- No tengo amigo ____________ que hable chino.
- ____________ se pone a trabajar; ¡qué chicas tan flojas! Jamás vamos a terminar.
- ____________ de ustedes se puede quejar.
- ____________ águila come hombres.
- ¿Por qué ____________ de tus amigas te prestó el dinero?
- ____________ casa me parece lo suficientemente grande para pasar la Navidad en familia.
Now, can you say if ningún / ninguno / ninguna in the following examples are indefinite adjectives or indefinite pronouns?
Click here for the translation of the questions and to see the answers.
Keep Practicing
Well done! You now know the difference between ningún / ninguno / ninguna and you’ve aced the quiz. Remember that every new piece of information gets you closer to fluency in Spanish.
If you want to take your skills to the next level and polish your ningún / ninguno / ninguna, sign up for a free class with one of our professional native speakers from Guatemala. Check your knowledge in real-time and practice in a one-to-one conversation.
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Answer Key
- Ninguno, indefinite pronoun
- Ningún, indefinite adjective
- Ningún, indefinite adjective
- Ninguna, indefinite adjective
- Ninguno, indefinite adjective
- Ninguna, indefinite pronoun
- Ninguno, indefinite pronoun
- Ningún, indefinite adjective
- Ninguna, indefinite pronoun
- Ninguna, indefinite adjective
Translation
- None of the students is my favorite.
- I don’t have any friends who can sing well.
- My dog is no guardian. Even the neighbor’s cats scare him.
- I’m not hungry at all. I have had breakfast three times.
- I don’t have any friends who speak Chinese.
- None of them go to work; What lazy girls! We will never finish!
- None of you can complain.
- No eagle eats men.
- Why didn’t any of your friends lend you the money?
- No house seems big enough to me to spend Christmas with the family.
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