Indefinite Pronouns (Alguém, Ninguém, Algo, Nada, Tudo)

Indefinite pronouns are the words you use when you want to talk about a person or thing without specifying who or what it is. Someone, no one, something, nothing, everything, each, other — English has a rich set of them, and so does Portuguese. This page covers the core inventory of invariable indefinite pronouns: alguém, ninguém, algo, nada, tudo, together with cada (each) and outro (other) in their pronoun uses. The closely related pair algum / nenhum, which does inflect for gender and number, is covered on its own dedicated page.

Two things about Portuguese indefinites will be unfamiliar to English speakers. First, the double negative is not only allowed but required — I didn't see no one is literally how Portuguese says I saw no one. Second, tudo (everything) and todo (every, all) are two different words that English speakers constantly confuse, and getting them right is one of the key markers of solid A2/B1 Portuguese.

The core pairs: people and things, positive and negative

The heart of the indefinite pronoun system is a two-by-two grid: people versus things, positive versus negative.

All five of these — alguém, ninguém, algo, nada, tudo — are invariable. They do not change for gender or number. They are grammatically singular and take singular verb forms, even when referring to multiple people or things.

Alguém — someone, somebody, anyone

Alguém refers to an unspecified person. It is used in affirmative statements meaning someone, and in questions meaning anyone.

Alguém with adjectives — use de

When you want to add a description to alguém (someone interesting, someone kind), Portuguese requires the preposition de between alguém and the adjective. This is an unusual pattern for English speakers.

The de pattern is obligatory when alguém is followed by a noun of quality (alguém de confiança, alguém de palavra — "a person of their word", alguém de bem — "a decent person"). With ordinary adjectives describing a person, the de is optional and often dropped: alguém novo, alguém importante, alguém inteligente all sound natural without de. This is the opposite of algo and nada, where de + adjective is strongly preferred.

Ninguém — no one, not anyone

Ninguém is the negative counterpart of alguém. It means no one or not anyone. The crucial thing to know is how it interacts with the verb: the verb must also be negated with não when ninguém comes after it.

The double negative — required, not optional

English schoolteachers tell you that a double negative is incorrect: I didn't see no one supposedly means I saw someone. In Portuguese, the double negative is the only way to say it. Não vi ninguém literally translates as I didn't see nobody but means I saw nobody. The two negatives do not cancel — they reinforce.

The rule: if a negative pronoun (ninguém, nada, nenhum) comes before the verb, you do not add não. If it comes after the verb, não must be there too.

Both sentences mean the same thing; only the word order changes.

Algo — something, anything

Algo refers to an unspecified thing. It is the counterpart of alguém for non-human referents. In European Portuguese, algo is slightly more formal or literary than the very common alternative alguma coisa (something, literally some thing). In ordinary conversation, Portuguese speakers often prefer alguma coisa.

Algo with adjectives — also de

Like alguém, algo takes the preposition de before a descriptive adjective.

The de is idiomatic and obligatory here. Omitting it — algo grave, algo interessante — sounds wrong to a Portuguese ear. The same applies to nada and alguma coisa, both of which take de before a descriptive adjective: nada de bom, alguma coisa de interessante.

Nada — nothing, not anything

Nada is the negative counterpart of algo. It follows the same double-negative rule as ninguém.

Nada with de + adjective

Idiomatic nada

Nada also appears in a number of fixed expressions worth learning as chunks.

Tudo — everything

Tudo refers to everything as an abstract or collective totality. It is invariable, grammatically singular, and never followed by a noun. Compare this with todo / toda / todos / todas, which does agree and is followed by a noun or determiner. This contrast is one of the most common sources of error for English learners and deserves careful attention — see the dedicated page on todo vs tudo for the full treatment.

The last example shows the structure tudo o que, which is the standard way to say everything that. The o is the neuter article referring to an unspecified totality, and que introduces the relative clause. Together, tudo o que is a fixed pattern.

Tudo versus todo

Here is the shortest summary of the distinction:

• Tudo is invariable and stands alone — tudo está bem, comi tudo, tudo mudou.
• Todo / toda / todos / todas agrees with a following noun or pronoun — todo o dia, toda a cidade, todos os dias, todas as pessoas.

The English word everything always maps to tudo. The English word every / all followed by a noun maps to todo (with agreement).

Cada — each

Cada (each) is another invariable indefinite. Unlike the pronouns above, however, cada almost always appears with a following noun — it is more commonly used as a determiner than a pronoun. When it stands alone as a pronoun, it is usually in the phrase cada um / cada uma (each one).

Cada um / cada uma is the standard way to say each one, and it does agree in gender with the referent — masculine or feminine. The cada itself stays invariable; only um / uma inflects.

Cada for emphasis and exclamation

Cada also has a second, colloquial life as an exclamatory intensifier — cada vez mais (more and more), acontece cada coisa! (such things happen!). This is a very Portuguese use and worth knowing.

Outro — other, another

Outro means other or another. Unlike the indefinites above, it agrees in gender and number: outro, outra, outros, outras. When used as a pronoun (with no following noun), it still agrees with its implied referent.

For the full treatment of outro as a determiner (with articles, with numbers, in expressions like no outro dia), see the dedicated page.

Qualquer — any, any one whatsoever

Qualquer (plural quaisquer) means any in the sense of any at all, no matter which. It is less common than the other indefinites but extremely useful.

The plural quaisquer is grammatical but uncommon in speech — most modern speakers use qualquer with plural nouns too in relaxed contexts.

Combining negative indefinites

Portuguese allows you to stack negative indefinites in the same sentence without any cancelling. Ninguém me disse nada (no one told me nothing) is perfectly grammatical and means no one told me anything. This can feel excessive to English speakers but is entirely normal.

Notice that once you have a negative marker (não or a fronted negative like ninguém or nunca), every subsequent indefinite must also be negative. You cannot mix: ninguém disse algo is wrong; it must be ninguém disse nada.

Common Mistakes

The last two mistakes come from the English intuition that everyone / someone / no one are collectively plural and should take a plural verb. In Portuguese they are grammatically singular and take singular verbs without exception. Alguém is a person, not a group.

Key Takeaways

• The five core invariable indefinites are alguém, ninguém, algo, nada, tudo — all grammatically singular.
• Algo is slightly formal; in everyday speech, alguma coisa is more common.
• Descriptive adjectives after these pronouns need de: algo de bom, nada de novo, alguém de confiança.
• Double negation is required: if ninguém or nada comes after the verb, não must come before the verb.
• Tudo (everything, standalone) and todo (every, followed by a noun) are not interchangeable — memorise the distinction.
• Cada (each) is usually followed by a noun; on its own it takes the form cada um / cada uma.
• All Portuguese indefinite pronouns take singular verb agreement, even when their meaning feels plural.