ningú

Ningú is a pronoun in Catalan that means "no one" or "nobody." It is used to negate the existence of people in a clause and is invariable for gender and number, functioning as a subject or an object in negative sentences. It commonly appears in existential constructions with verbs of being or existing, as in No hi havia ningú (There was nobody), and in simple negations such as Ningú sap la resposta (Nobody knows the answer) or Ningú no fa res (Nobody does anything). It can also be followed by altre to mean "no one else," for example Ningú altre ho sap.

Grammar and usage notes:

- Ningú is used in negative contexts and does not take a plural form.

- It can appear with or without a preceding negation particle, depending on the sentence structure.

- In formal or careful speech, it may be replaced by cap persona in certain contexts, but ningú remains the standard option in most varieties of Catalan.

- It is compatible with common complement constructions, such as Ningú no va dir res (Nobody said anything) or Ningú altre ho sap (Nobody else knows it).

Etymology:

- The origin of ningú is within the Catalan negative-pronoun system, with ties to the broader Romance family. Its exact historical development is not universally fixed, but it has been a stable element of Catalan since medieval times and is cognate with related negation forms in other languages.

See also:

- Nadie (Spanish)

- Nobody (English)

- Cap persona, a common paraphrase in contexts where a stronger or more formal negation is preferred.