📖LearnModule 7 · Lesson 22 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1, completedUnit 5 · Ya no, nunca, nada, nadie
Nada, nadie
Module 7 of the free Spanish course (CEFR B1, completed), lesson 22 of 30: Nada is nothing and nadie is nobody. On this page: 9 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
no veo nada
I see nothing
noh BEH-oh NAH-dah
no conozco a nadie
I know nobody
noh koh-NOHS-koh ah NAH-dyeh
nada funciona
nothing works
NAH-dah foon-SYOH-nah
nadie vino
nobody came
NAH-dyeh BEE-noh
vacío
empty (m)
bah-SEE-oh
funcionar
to work (function)
foon-syoh-NAR
descompuesto
out of order (m)
dehs-kohm-PWEHS-toh
preocupado
worried (m)
preh-oh-koo-PAH-doh
yo veo la luz
I see the light
yoh BEH-oh lah loos
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
Nada is nothing and nadie is nobody, and both sit AFTER the verb with no in front: no veo nada (I see nothing), no conozco a nadie (I know nobody). The two negatives do not cancel out — in Spanish they agree, and the sentence is correct.
Y también · And also
They can also start a sentence, and then the no disappears: nada funciona — nothing works. Nadie vino — nobody came. One rule covers the whole family: a negative word BEFORE the verb stands alone; a negative word AFTER the verb needs no in front.
Ojo · Watch out
nada and nadie after the verb keep the no: no veo nada, no conozco a nadie. Before the verb they drop it: nada funciona, nadie vino. And nadie as an object takes the personal a: no veo a nadie.
ver, presente — the table
yo veo · tú ves · él/ella/usted ve · nosotros vemos · ustedes ven · ellos/ellas ven
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with no veo nada.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out ver, presente in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.