Learn Spanish (Latin America): Nadie comprende esta carta.

Nadie comprende esta carta.

No one understands this letter.

Breakdown of Nadie comprende esta carta.

Questions & Answers about Nadie comprende esta carta.

I've heard that Spanish often uses double negatives. Why isn't there a no before comprende?

When a negative word like nadie (no one) comes before the verb, you don't need to add no. If we put nadie after the verb, we would need a double negative: No comprende nadie esta carta. Both mean the same thing, but putting nadie first is very common!

Does nadie always use the singular form of the verb?

Yes! Even though nadie refers to zero people, Spanish treats it grammatically as a single unit, just like 'nobody' or 'no one' in English. That's why we use the él/ella/usted form comprende instead of the plural comprenden.

Wait, shouldn't esta have an accent mark (está)?

No, they are two completely different words! Esta (without an accent) means 'this' and is used before feminine nouns like carta (this letter). Está (with an accent) is a form of the verb estar and means 'is' or 'are'.

Can I use carta to talk about a letter in the alphabet, like A, B, or C?