nada
“nada” — nothing in Spanish. Pronoun, level A1, topic — pronouns. After a verb it demands no before it: no veo nada. The double negative in Spanish is the rule, not a slip. In a live sentence: “No entiendo nada” — I don't understand anything. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 27 words in the set “pronouns” in the Spanish course.
In short
| Written in Spanish | nada |
| Translation | nothing |
| Part of speech | pronoun |
| Level | A1 |
- nadanothing
Why it looks that way
After a verb it demands no before it: no veo nada. The double negative in Spanish is the rule, not a slip
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- No entiendo nadaI don't understand anything
Nearby words: pronouns
I, you, we, they. There is a handful of them, they turn up in every sentence, and politeness rides on them: most of these languages keep a formal “you” apart from a familiar one, and choosing the wrong one is noticed faster than a mispronounced word.
- yoISpanish speakers usually drop it: the verb ending already says who acts. Yo is kept for emphasis
- túyou (informal)Tú with the accent is 'you'; tu without it is 'your'. Same trick as sí and si
- ustedyou (formal)The polite 'you', for strangers and elders. Its verb goes in the third person: usted es is literally 'you is'
- élheÉl with the accent is 'he'; el without it is the article 'the'. The same pair as tú and tu
- ellasheThe plural ellas is for women only; ellos covers men and any mixed group
- nosotrosweWe has a feminine form: a group of only women is nosotras. One man shows up and it's nosotros again
- ellostheyEllos for men and mixed groups, ellas only for women. A single man is enough to switch to ellos
- mimyIt doesn't change for gender: mi padre and mi madre alike. In the plural it's mis
- tuyourNo accent means 'your'; the accented tú means 'you'. One little mark changes the whole word
- nuestroourThe one possessive that changes for gender: nuestra casa, but nuestro coche
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “pronouns”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “nothing” in Spanish?
After a verb it demands no before it: no veo nada. The double negative in Spanish is the rule, not a slip
- How do you say “they” in Spanish?
Ellos for men and mixed groups, ellas only for women. A single man is enough to switch to ellos
- How do you say “you (formal)” in Spanish?
The polite 'you', for strangers and elders. Its verb goes in the third person: usted es is literally 'you is'
- How do you say “our” in Spanish?
The one possessive that changes for gender: nuestra casa, but nuestro coche
- How do you say “we” in Spanish?
We has a feminine form: a group of only women is nosotras. One man shows up and it's nosotros again
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “nothing” in Spanish?
«nada». In a live sentence: “No entiendo nada” — I don't understand anything. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Pronoun, level A1, from the set “pronouns”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
After a verb it demands no before it: no veo nada. The double negative in Spanish is the rule, not a slip. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.