Question 1

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

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 2

Why is there an a before nadie?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 3

Why does this sentence use both no and nadie?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 4

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

Accepted Answer

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.

La dependienta ya no fía a nadie.

Breakdown of La dependienta ya no fía a nadie.

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