Breakdown of Eles não veem nenhum rasto na sala.
não
not / no
eles
they (m)
no
in the / on the / at the (m, f, pl forms: na, nos, nas)
a sala
the living room
ver
to see
nenhum
no / none / not any (quantity)
o rasto
the trace / the trail
Questions & Answers about Eles não veem nenhum rasto na sala.
Why does this sentence use nenhum for "any" instead of algum?
Portuguese often uses a double negative structure. Because the sentence is already negative with não before the verb, we have to use the negative word nenhum (meaning "no" or "not any") rather than the positive word algum (some/any). Literally, the Portuguese phrasing translates to "They do not see no trail."
Why is the word nenhum in its masculine singular form here?
Is veem from the verb ver (to see) or vir (to come)?
Veem (with a double e) is the "they" form of ver (to see) in the present tense. It is very easy to confuse with vêm (with one e and a circumflex), which is the "they" form of vir (to come). A helpful trick: seeing requires two eyes, so veem has two e's!
Why is "in the living room" translated as na sala instead of em a sala?
The word na is a mandatory contraction of the preposition em (in/on/at) and the feminine singular definite article a (the). Whenever you want to say "in the" before a feminine noun like sala, em and a must combine to become na.
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