Indefinite Pronoun
Indefinite pronouns are often defined as something specific, a certain person or a thing.
Indefinite pronouns in number or quantity
1. mucho – poco – bastante – demasiado – suficiente
| Singular | Plural | ||
| masculine | feminine | masculine | feminine |
| mucho | mucha | muchos | muchas |
| bastante | bastante | bastantes | bastantes |
| poco | poca | pocos | pocas |
| demasiado | demasiada | demasiados | demasiadas |
| suficiente | suficiente | suficiente | suficiente |
Use
mucho, poco and demasiado correspond to the noun in gender and number. Bastante and suficiente have only one form for the singular and add -s for the plural.
Beispiel:
Aquí no se gana mucho – Here you don’t earn much
Tienes poca paciencia – You have little patience
Creo que como demasiado – I think I eat too much.
No tengo bastante para pagar – I don’t have enough to pay
¿Hay suficiente crédito en el celular? – Is there enough credit on the phone?
2. alguien – nadie; algo – nada; alguna – ninguna
| Thing | Person | Thing/Person | |||
| masculine | feminine | ||||
| Singular | + | algo | alguien | alguno | alguna |
| – | nada | nadie | ninguno | ninguna | |
| Plural | + | algunos | algunas | ||
Use
- Algo (something) and nada (nothing) replace things
Example:
¿Necesita usted algo? – Do you need anything?
No, gracias, nada – No, thank you; nothing
Alguien (someone) and nadie (nobody) replace persons
Example:
¿Ha venido alguien? – Has someone come?
No, nadie – No, nobody
2. Alguno/-a/-os/-as refer to things or persons. Their gender and number depend on the noun they replace.
Alguno means any, while the plural algunos, algunas is translated as some, some. Ninguno is used practically only in the singular and means no.
Example:
¿Tienes alguna idea? – Do you have any idea?
Si necesitas sellos, aquí hay algunos. – If you need stamps, here are some
alguno de or ninguno de + pronouns/articles + noun means one or no one of/from.
Example:
¿Alguno de vosotros sabe la hora? – Do any of you know the time?
Ninguno tiene reloj – No one has a watch
3. Uno/a as pronouns means one, but in contrast to German also has a feminine form
Example:
Uno tiene que tener cuidado. Una también, por supuesto – One (general) has to be careful. One (Woman) too, of course.
4. todo/-a/-os/-as
The pronoun todo in the singular means everything
Example:
¿Has terminado todo? – Did you get everything ready?
Otherwise, todo/-a/-os/-as depends in sex and number on the noun it replaces, and means all in the singular whole and plural. Together with the 1st or 2nd person plural of the verb it can all be reproduced as us or you.
¿Has escuchado todas las canciones? – Did you hear all the songs?
¿Vamos todos al restaurante? – Shall we all go to the restaurant?
5. tanto/-a/-os/-as
The pronoun tanto means so much and depends in sex and number on the noun it replaces.
Example:
No debes beber tanto – You shall not drink so much
Further Indefinite Pronouns
otra/-a/-os/-as
Otra/-a/-os/-as correspond to the noun in sex and number. It means other, another
Example:
Prefiero otro color – I prefer another colour
demás
Demás is unchangeable and always appears together with the particular article. It means the others, everyone else
Example:
Pedimos muchas cosas a los demás – We demand a lot from the others.
cada uno/a
Cada uno/a means each one. The membership group can be specified with the preposition de.
Example:
Cada uno de nosotros trabaja en la tienda – Each one of us works in the store
cualquiera
Cualquiera is almost always in the singular and means everyone (Any)
Example:
Eso no lo hace cualquiera – Not everyone does
varios
Varios/-as (several) is always in the plural and depends in gender on the noun that it replaces
Example
Comentamos varios puntos – We comment several points
mismo/a/-os/as
Lo mismo means the same thing. Otherwise mismo/-a/-os/as always stands with the particular article and depends in sex and number on the noun. It is translated with the same.
Example:
Siempre es lo mismo contigo – It’s always the same with you