Ningún vs Ninguno: Similarities and Differences

Many Spanish students struggle to understand when it’s best to use ningún vs ninguno, perhaps in large part due to the similarity of these words and their function. But there is a key difference between the two that can make or break your sentence.

Ningún vs Ninguno: Meaning

Ningún and ninguno both express the non-existence of something within a sentence. In other words, they express a lack of something.

Ningún in English means any, no, or not a single.

Meanwhile, ninguno in English means none, none of, no, no one, or any.

When to use ningún vs ninguno (and how) all depends on the context.

Ningún vs Ninguno: Grammar

Put simply, the distinguishing factor that separates these two words is the part of speech they correspond to: ningún is an adjective, while ninguno is a pronoun.

More specifically, ningún is an indefinite adjective, which means it accompanies and modifies a noun in a nonspecific or vague way.

On the other hand, ninguno is an indefinite pronoun. This means that it replaces a noun in a sentence and refers vaguely to things or people without directly saying who or what they are.

Ningún goes before a noun, modifying it, while ninguno can stand alone, replacing the noun it refers to.

As you may already know, Spanish adjectives change gender and number to match the nouns they modify, and Spanish pronouns change gender and number to match the word they replace. And that’s when the difference between these words can get confusing, because the feminine version of ningún is ninguna, and the feminine version of ninguno is… also ninguna. In fact, in all forms except the masculine singular, ningún and ninguno are exactly the same.

Have you ever seen “primero” shortened to “primer” before a masculine noun? Something similar happens with ningún. It’s just that, because ningún is an adjective, it always goes before the noun, so in it’s masculine version, it’s always “shortened” to ningún, while ninguno replaces the noun, so it is always in this “longer” version. But in all other versions, both ningún and ninguno are spelled the same, just used differently.

However, there is some good news: It is not common for native Spanish speakers to use the plural forms of these words – ningunos, ningunas – neither as adjectives nor as nouns.

Before we delve deeper into these words and how to use them correctly in Spanish, take a look at the chart below to get a brief summary of the key facts you’ll need to know.

Indefinite adjective: Ningún

The indefinite adjective ningún translates in English to: any, no, not one, none of, or not a single.

Spanish Word	When to Use it
Ningún	Before a singular, masculine noun
Ninguna	Before a singular, feminine noun
Ningunos	Before a plural, masculine noun
Ningunas	Before a plural, feminine noun

Indefinite pronoun: Ninguno

The indefinite pronoun ninguno translates in English to: none, any, none of them, any of them, nobody, anybody, no one, or anyone.

Spanish Word	When to Use it
Ninguno	Replacing a singular, masculine noun
Ninguna	Replacing a singular, feminine noun
Ningunos	Replacing a plural, masculine noun
Ningunas	Replacing a plural, feminine noun

Ningún: Indefinite Adjective

As indefinite adjectives, ningún (or ninguna, the feminine form) describe nouns in a general or vague way. They can indicate a non-specific quantity of something. In English, we accomplish the same thing with words like no, any, not one, not a single, or none of.

Just like we expect from other, typical adjectives, ningún and ninguna go before the noun they modify and must agree in number and gender with it.

Remember, though, that it is not usual to use the plural form of each word, ningunos or ningunas. We only turn to these adjectives when the noun we’d like to modify is always used in the plural, such as vacaciones, tijeras, or gafas (in English vacation, scissors, or glasses).

Another important exception: ningún can come before a singular feminine noun sometimes, but only if the noun begins with a or ha, like águila and hacha. This is just to make pronunciation easier (ninguna águila sounds the same as ningún águila when you say it out loud).

• Not one person can be late for this class. – Ninguna persona puede llegar tarde a esta clase.

• No house is as big as my grandmother’s. – Ninguna casa es tan grande como la de mi abuela.

• I don’t like any pants. – Ningún pantalón me gusta.

• No effort is worth the struggle. – Ningún esfuerzo vale la pena.

• I couldn’t cut the wood. Not one of the axes was sharpened. – No pude cortar la madera. Ningún hacha estaba afilada.

• No vacation can beat this summer in Cancun. – Ningunas vacaciones podrán superar este verano en Cancún.

You may notice that, in the examples above, the indefinite adjectives and the nouns they modify go before the verb. But ningún and the noun it’s modifying can come after a verb, too. When this is the case, our sentences contain a double negative, something that’s grammatically correct in Spanish (unlike in English).

• I have no chance of winning the contest. – No tengo ninguna oportunidad de ganar el concurso.

• There is no five-star hotel in this city. – No hay ningún hotel cinco estrellas en esta ciudad.

• I can’t cut the paper. None of the scissors work. – No puedo cortar el papel. No sirven ningunas tijeras.

• I don’t work on any Mondays. – Yo no trabajo ningún lunes.

• There is no horror movie that’s actually good. – No hay ninguna película de terror realmente buena.

In Spanish, double negative statements like these can help us reinforce the negative meaning of a sentence.

Ninguno: Indefinite Pronoun

Both ninguno and ninguna fall under the classification of indefinite pronouns, which means they are used in place of nouns rather than to describe or modify them.

Just like indefinite adjectives, these pronouns are vague and general in their nature. They can have several meanings in English, including none, none of, no, no one, anyone, nobody, anybody, any of, or any.

And, similar to our rules for ningún or ninguna as adjectives, we tend not to use the plural forms of our pronouns (ningunos or ningunas), not even when they substitute a plural noun.

Let’s take a look at these words in action in the following examples. We’ll highlight the original noun in the first part of each, along with the indefinite pronoun that replaces it in the second. In this example, ninguna is replacing the noun “pregunta.”

• Do you have any questions? No, none. – ¿Tienes alguna pregunta? No, ninguna.

Here, ninguno is replacing the noun “vestido.”

• Why don’t you choose a dress from this store? Because I don’t like any of them. – ¿Por qué no escoges un vestido de esta tienda? Porque ninguno me gusta.

In this sentence, ninguno is replacing the noun “amigos.” Remember that we don’t use ningunos even though our noun is plural.

• Where are your friends? I don’t know. No one came. – ¿Dónde están tus amigos? No sé, ninguno vino.

Additionally, like with the indefinite adjectives ningún and ninguna, when ninguno and ninguna are after the verb, it is necessary to start with the negative word “no” earlier in the sentence to create the double negative.

• I have to wear a costume for the party, but I don’t have any. – Tengo que llevar un disfraz para la fiesta, pero no tengo ninguno.

• These skirts are on sale, but I don’t like any of them. – Estas faldas están en descuento, pero no me gusta ninguna.

• Do you like Elton John songs? Yes, but I don’t know the words to any. – ¿Te gustan las canciones de Elton John? Sí, pero no me sé ninguna.

Ninguno de

The indefinite pronouns ninguno (and ninguna) can be followed by the Spanish preposition de.

In this case, the meaning of ninguno de or ninguna de in English is none of or any of.

Ninguno de and ninguna de are usually followed by a plural noun. However, the verb in the sentence is conjugated to match the indefinite pronoun ninguno or ninguna, which is singular.

• None of my friends speak Spanish. – Ninguno de mis amigos habla español.

• I don’t like any of his paintings. – Ninguna de sus obras me gusta.

When ninguno de and ninguna de are followed by nosotros, vosotros, or ustedes, the verb agreement can be singular or plural. Both options are technically correct. However, native Spanish speakers tend and typically prefer to conjugate the verb in the singular tense, as is shown in the first option in each of the examples below.

• None of us wants to go to the movies. – Ninguno de nosotros quiere ir al cine. – Ninguno de nosotros queremos ir al cine.

• None of you did the homework. – Ninguna de ustedes hizo la tarea. – Ninguna de ustedes hicieron la tarea.

Conclusion

The easiest way to know when to use ningún, ninguno, or ninguna is to ask yourself if you’re trying to modify a noun or replace it.

When modifying a noun, we use adjectives (indefinite adjectives, in this case), which means our options are ningún and ninguna.

We don’t use the plural forms of these adjectives (ningunos and ningunas) unless we’re modifying a noun that is always plural.

When replacing a noun, on the other hand, you’ll need to use the indefinite pronouns ninguno or ninguna. These words are also singular, but we don’t make an exception for replacing plural nouns (we don’t use ningunos or ningunas as pronouns).

Both ways to use these words – as indefinite adjectives and indefinite pronouns – allow us to express the non-existence of something within a sentence.

We hope that this breakdown gives you the tools and confidence to start using ningún, ninguno, and ninguna in your sentences and conversations!

Exercises

We’ll leave you with some practice exercises to get used to using ningún vs ninguno. For each sentence, fill in the blank with either ningún, ninguno, or ninguna. Be sure to use other words in the sentence to help you determine the gender, number, and part of speech you’ll need for the correct answer. Check the answers below for the translations, and to double check which part of speech applies to ningún vs ninguno in each example.

1. No tengo _____ problema contigo.

2. _____ de ustedes puede ir a la fiesta.

3. _____ profesor entregó el informe.

4. Aún no has enviado _____ propuesta.

5. Ya no queda _____ águila en este zoológico.

6. _____ chaqueta me queda bien.

7. _____ de mis amigas es alta.

8. Los clientes me llamaron, pero no le contesté a _____.

9. _____ pintura me gusta, vayamos a otra galería.

10. Este año no voy a tomar _____ curso de baile.

Answers

1. No tengo ningún problema contigo. – I have no problem with you. (adjective)

2. Ninguno de ustedes puede ir a la fiesta. – None of you can go to the party. (pronoun)

3. Ningún profesor entregó el informe. – Not a single teacher delivered the report. (adjective)

4. Aún no has enviado ninguna propuesta. – You have not yet sent any proposal. (adjective)

5. Ya no queda ningún águila en este zoológico. – There are no eagles in this zoo any more. (adjective)

6. Ninguna chaqueta me queda bien. – No jacket fits me. (adjective)

7. Ninguna de mis amigas es alta. – None of my friends are tall. (pronoun)

8. Los clientes me llamaron, pero no le conteste a ninguno. – Customers called me, but I didn’t answer any of them. (pronoun)

9. Ninguna pintura me gusta, vayamos a otra galería. – I don’t like any painting, let’s go to another gallery. (adjective)

10. Este año no voy a tomar ningún curso de baile. – This year I will not take any dance classes. (adjective)