Ningún

Ningún is a negative determiner in Spanish used to express not any or no when denying the existence or amount of something. It is the masculine singular form and is placed before a masculine singular noun. The feminine singular form is ninguna, used before feminine nouns. There is no standard plural determiner form; to negate plural nouns Spanish commonly uses other constructions, or uses ninguno as a pronoun in phrases like ninguno de los libros.

As a pronoun, ninguno (masculine) and ninguna (feminine) can replace the noun when the noun is omitted. Examples: Ningún libro apareció en la mesa. No hay ninguna razón para preocuparse. Ninguno de los libros respondió.

Usage norms and examples illuminate its function. No tengo ningún dinero means I have no money. No hay ninguna solución rápida means there is no quick solution. Ningún estudiante aprobó el examen shows negation applied to a masculine singular noun. For plural contexts, you would typically use a phrase like ninguno de los libros or restructure the sentence to avoid a plural determiner: No hay libros que me interesen.

Etymology traces ningú n to a historic combination of a negation and the word uno, with phonological changes over time that produced the contracted form before masculine singular nouns. The gendered forms align with standard Spanish agreement: ningúna/ninguno serve as pronouns or determiners in their respective gender-number categories.

Related terms include nadie (no person) and nada (nothing), which express broader negative concepts without directly modifying a noun.