Learn Spanish (Spain): La dependienta ya no fía a nadie. - The shop assistant f doesn't sell on credit to anyone anymore.

The shop assistant (f) doesn't sell on credit to anyone anymore.

Breakdown of La dependienta ya no fía a nadie.

Questions & Answers about La dependienta ya no fía a nadie.

The current lesson is about verbs that change meaning. What would happen if we used the pronominal form se fía de instead of fía?

The non-pronominal verb fiar means to sell on credit or lend money. If we used the pronominal form fiarse (e.g., no se fía de nadie), the meaning shifts to trusting someone generally: she doesn't trust anyone anymore.

Why is there an a before nadie?

In Spanish, when an object refers to a person, it requires the personal a. Even though nadie means nobody, it still refers to people, so it needs the preposition here to show who is not receiving credit.

Why does this sentence use both no and nadie?

Spanish requires a double negative when the negative pronoun (like nadie or nada) comes after the verb. Since nadie is placed after the verb here, we must include no before it. If we moved the phrase to the front (A nadie fía ya), the no would be dropped.

Could ya no be translated literally as 'already not'?

While ya often means already on its own, the set phrase ya no translates to not anymore or no longer. It indicates that a previous habit or state (like selling on credit) has ended.