Indefinite pronouns are words used to refer to things or ideas, and people in a general sense. There is no need to specify who or what they are. For example: Alguien llamó esta tarde. ("Someone called this afternoon.") or ¿Me trajiste algo? ("Did you bring me something?"). Some of them have a masculine, feminine, singular, and plural, for example uno, una ("one"), unos, unas ("some"); and some of them are invariable, like algo ("something") and alguien ("someone"). Ready to find out more?
Indefinite pronouns can replace nouns that have been previously mentioned or can be recovered from context. For example:
As you can see algunos refers to the previously mentioned estudiantes. These pronouns are particularly useful when answering questions.
Furthermore, there is a small group of indefinite pronouns that don't necessarily have to refer to someone or something previously mentioned. For example:
In this case, the person to whom we are referring is unknown, so we use an indefinite pronoun. This group includes: alguien ("someone"), nadie ("no one"), quienquiera ("whoever"), algo ("something"), and nada ("nothing").
Some indefinite words also function as adjectives. How can we tell the difference? The indefinite adjectives will be followed by a noun, whereas the indefinite pronoun will not.
Adjective →
Algunas personas tienen acceso al edificio.
Some people have access to the building.
Pronoun →
Algunos hablaron con el gerente.
Some spoke with the manager.
Some indefinite pronouns can be followed by “de" to single out a subset of people or items out of a group.
Find a complete list of indefinite pronouns followed by preposition "de" here.
Indefinite pronouns can refer to people, things, and quantities. We’ll begin with the pronouns that can refer to both people and things and then we’ll discuss the ones that can only be used with things/objects, and finally the ones that are exclusive for people.
Most Spanish indefinite pronouns can refer to both people and things. Let’s see which ones they are.
The singular forms uno and una are used to refer to a noun and mean "(any) one."
Una de mis hijas quiere ser cantante.
One of my daughters wants to be a singer.
Uno/una can also be used by the speaker as an indirect reference to themselves, or others:
Ya estoy viejo. Uno ya no está para desvelarse.
I’m old now. One doesn’t (I don’t) stay up late anymore.
If a woman is referring to herself, then she can use una:
Ya estoy vieja. Una ya no está para desvelarse.
I’m old now. One doesn’t (I don’t) stay up late anymore.
Sé que las cosas pueden ser difíciles, Arturo, pero uno tiene que ser entusiasta en esta vida.
I know that things are difficult, Arturo, but one needs (you need) to be enthusiastic in life.
Uno can also be used in an impersonal way to make a generalization:
En esta vida, uno no sabe qué esperar.
In this life, one never knows what to expect.
In the case that the referent is a group of women you can use una:
Una debe cuidarse durante el embarazo.
One must take care of themselves during pregnancy.
Finally, uno/una can be used in the construction uno mismo/una misma to refer to "oneself"
Es importante conocerse a uno mismo.
It’s important to know oneself.
The plural forms, unos and unas, translate as “some” and they refer to an indefinite number of people or objects.
Unos replaces a plural masculine noun and unas replaces a plural feminine noun that is specific within a wider group. In this case, it can also translate as "any."
¿Qué tipo de zapatos quieres?
What type of shoes do you want?
Unos con agujetas.
Any with shoelaces.
¿Qué galletas buscas?
What cookies are you looking for?
Unas cubiertas de chocolate.
Any with a chocolate cover.
Una, unos, unas can also be indefinite articles in Spanish. In order to make the distinction with the pronouns, it’s important to highlight that articles are followed by nouns while pronouns replace them.
Unos and unas can be used in reciprocal sentences to mean “one another.” In this case we also need to pair these pronouns with the definite articles los/las, and definite article + otro/a(s) ("other").
These pronouns refer to unknown, not specific objects or people and translate to “one” or “any.” These pronouns need an antecedent in order to know what they refer to.
Hay muchos museos en esta ciudad. ¿Has visitado alguno?
There are many museums in this city. Have you visited any?
Aquí muchas personas son muy talentosas. ¿Reconoces algunas?
Here, many people are talented. Do you recognize any?
Algún is the adjective form of alguno; it’s always followed by a masculine singular noun.
Algunos and unos can be interchangeable when used in a phrase with otros ("other").
These pronouns are the negative counterparts of uno(s) and alguno(s) and their corresponding feminine forms, and translate as "none." When they are placed after the verb, they require a double negative.
Did you notice in the example above that we used ninguna and not ningunas to answer the question? Even though we’re talking about paletas, a plural noun, when we use the negatives we always use the singular forms: ninguno or ninguna. The plural forms ningunos and ningunas are rarely used; they can be used if followed by a noun that has only a plural form such as vacaciones ("vacations"), ganas ("desire"), or gafas ("gases").
Pedro no tiene ningunas ganas de trabajar hoy.
Pedro has no desire to work today.
Ningún is the adjective form of ninguno; it’s always followed by a masculine singular noun.
Cada uno/cada una means “each one” and refers to each member of a specific group of people or objects when highlighting the same characteristic or function of each.
El equipo consta de cinco personas. Cada una tiene un asistente.
The team consists of five people. Each one has an assistant.
Cualquiera ("any or anyone") refers to both objects or people that are not specific and there is no need to specify them. It’s invariable — that means it can be used to replace feminine, masculine, singular, and plural nouns.
Cualquier is the adjective form of cualquiera, it’s always followed by a singular noun.
Cualquier miembro/persona tiene acceso al club.
Any member/person has access to the club.
Otro ("another"), and its variants, when used as a pronoun means “another one” or “others.” They refer to a noun with the same characteristics as the one it replaces.
Otros can be preceded by a definite article, but never by an indefinite article.
⤷TIP Never use “un otro” to mean “another.”
The indefinite pronouns algo ("something") and nada ("nothing") refer only to things.
Just as in English, algo ("something") refers to an unknown specific object or concept.
In this example algo is replacing a specific concept, for example un sentimiento ("a feeling").
Nada ("nothing or anything") is the opposite of algo, and it describes the nonexistence of objects or concepts. When placed after the verb, it requires a double negative.
The indefinite pronouns alguien, quienquiera, and nadie can only refer to people.
This pronoun refers to an unknown person and it’s invariable. It’s translated as “someone” or “somebody.”
Colloquially the expression ser alguien means "to be someone important."
Juan quiere ser alguien en las ciencias.
Juan wants to be someone important in the science field.
In questions, it can be used as “anybody.”
Quienquiera ("who(m)ever") is always used as a pronoun. It’s invariable and refers to an unknown, unspecified person.
Daré una recompensa a quienquiera que encuentre a mi perro.
I will give a reward to whoever finds my dog.
Nadie ("no one, nobody, anybody") describes the nonexistence of people. Just like with nada, when used after the verb, it requires a double negative.
When alguien, quienquiera, and nadie are used as direct objects of the verb, they must be preceded by a-personal.
Want to know more about a-personal? Check out this post on a-personal!
Finally, there are other pronouns that are used to refer to quantities, for example: Quedan pocos. ("There are a few left."), but to learn about those, we’re going to need another post: "What are quantifiers in Spanish?" So stay tuned!
Indefinite pronouns substitute nouns that refer to people or objects in general. Let’s briefly go over the three categories that we covered in this post:
Most of them can refer to both people and things: uno, una ("any"), unos, unas ("some"), algunos, algunas ("some"), cada uno ("each one"), cualquiera ("any, anyone"), otro, otra ("other"), otros, otras ("others").
The negative counterpart is ninguno or ninguna ("none").
Algo ("something") can only refer to things or concepts.
The negative counterpart is nada ("nothing").
Finally, alguien ("someone") and quienquiera ("whoever") can only refer to people.
And its negative counterpart is nadie ("no one").
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