ninguno

Ninguno is a Spanish indefinite pronoun and determiner that conveys negation, commonly translated as none, not any, or no one. It derives from the combination of the negative ni and uno (one), and it functions in two main roles within a sentence: as a determiner before a noun and as a pronoun standing in for a noun.

As a determiner, ningún is used before masculine singular nouns to express “not a single” or “no.” Examples include: No tengo ningún libro (I don’t have any book), No hay ningún problema (There isn’t any problem). For feminine singular nouns, the form is ninguna: No tengo ninguna idea (I don’t have any idea). The use of ningunos or ningunas is rare and typically avoided in standard Spanish; the preferred construction in plural contexts is to rephrase with a singular noun or to use other negations.

As a pronoun, ninguno (masculine) or ninguna (feminine) stands in for a noun without repeating it. Examples: No quiero ninguno (I don’t want any of them), De los estudiantes, ninguno respondió (Of the students, none responded). When referring to people, nadie is often a natural alternative, but ninguno/ninguna can be used for things or people in non-specific references.

Relationship to otras negaciones: ninguno is used with negation to indicate absence of items in a set, as opposed to nadie, which refers specifically to people, and nada, which refers to things or abstracts. In negative contexts, conjunction with no is common: No hay ninguno de esos.

Regional variation is present, but standard Spanish treats ningún and ninguna as the determiner forms before masculine and feminine singular nouns, respectively, with ninguno/ninguna used as pronouns.