Breakdown of Necesito una linterna porque no veo a nadie.
no
no, not
una
a, an (feminine)
necesitar
to need
ver
to see / to look / appear
porque
because
nadie
no one
la linterna
the flashlight
a
personal 'a' (marks a human direct object)
Questions & Answers about Necesito una linterna porque no veo a nadie.
Why are there two negatives here (no and nadie)?
Doesn't nadie mean "nobody"? Why is it translated as "anyone" here?
You are right that nadie generally means "nobody." But because English doesn't use double negatives, we translate no veo a nadie as "I don't see anyone" instead of "I don't see nobody" so it sounds natural in English.
Why is there an a right before nadie?
This is the personal a. In Spanish, when the direct object of a verb is a person, we put the word a before it. Even though nadie means "nobody," it still refers to people, so it needs the personal a when it receives the action of the verb veo.
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