Question 1

Why is the verb vendría and not 'veniría'?

Accepted Answer

Vendría means 'would come' and is the conditional form of venir (to come). Venir has an irregular stem in both the future and conditional tenses. Instead of adding the ending to the full infinitive, you use the special stem vendr- and add the conditional ending -ía.

Question 2

Why does vendría use the third-person singular ending?

Accepted Answer

The subject of the sentence is nadie (no one). Just like in English, indefinite words like nadie, alguien (someone), and todo el mundo (everyone) are treated as singular subjects. Therefore, they always take the same verb endings as él, ella, or usted.

Question 3

I thought Spanish used double negatives. Why isn't there a no before the verb?

Accepted Answer

You only need a double negative if the negative word comes after the verb. Because nadie is placed before the verb in this sentence, adding no is actually incorrect. If you wanted to put nadie at the end of the sentence instead, it would require the double negative: No vendría nadie al seminario.

Question 4

Could I use aquel instead of ese for 'that professor'?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but it changes the nuance slightly. Ese (that) usually refers to someone either physically near the listener, or someone you were just talking about in conversation. Aquel (that over there) implies the professor is physically far away from both of you, or distant in time and memory.

Nadie vendría al seminario con ese profesor.

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