Someone or No One
When you want to talk about an unknown person or the absence of people, use alguien (someone/anyone) and nadie (no one/nobody/anyone).
| Is there anyone in the empty room? | ¿Hay alguien en el cuarto vacío? |
| Someone was crying in the corner. | Alguien estaba llorando en el rincón. |
The Double Negative Rule
When a negative word like nadie comes after the verb, you must place no before the verb.
| The house was empty; there was nobody. | La casa estaba vacía; no había nadie. |
However, if nadie comes before the verb, do not use no.
| Nobody knows the secret. | Nadie sabe el secreto. |
| Nobody left this footprint on the floor. | Nadie dejó esta huella en el piso. |
The Personal "A"
Because alguien and nadie refer to people, they require the personal a when they are the direct object of a sentence. If you are seeing, hearing, or looking for "someone" or "no one", use a alguien or a nadie.
| I don't see anyone in that dark corner. | No veo a nadie en ese rincón oscuro. |
| I was looking at the footprints, but I didn't see anyone. | Yo miraba las huellas, pero no vi a nadie. |
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