Word
¿De dónde surge este fenómeno? El científico no tiene ni idea de ello.
Meaning
Where does this phenomenon arise from? The scientist has no idea about it.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of ¿De dónde surge este fenómeno? El científico no tiene ni idea de ello.
de
of
dónde
where
este
this (m.sg., also esta, estos, estas, esto)
el científico
the scientist
Questions & Answers about ¿De dónde surge este fenómeno? El científico no tiene ni idea de ello.
Why do we use ello here instead of él to mean 'it'?
Ello is a neuter pronoun. We use it here because 'it' refers back to the entire abstract concept of the previous question (¿De dónde surge este fenómeno?), rather than a specific masculine noun. If the scientist had no idea about the phenomenon itself, you would use the masculine pronoun and say no tiene ni idea de él, but here he has no idea about the whole situation of where it comes from.
Why is it ni idea de ello and not ni idea sobre ello?
While English speakers naturally want to translate 'about' as sobre, the fixed phrase in Spanish is tener idea de (to have an idea of/about). Therefore, you must use the preposition de when linking it to the pronoun.
Why does the sentence use ni idea instead of just no tiene idea?