why do you say "Nadie sabe" for nobody knows & not "Nadie saben" i.e. nobody they know?

Question

Nobody would be plural thats why I don't understand why you are not saying. Nobody "they know"

• Corrected spelling of "knowbody" in question - 00515f39 Nov 7, 2009

Answer 1

Actually, it's not plural, not even in English. The verb knows is conjugated for a singular subject. If the subject nobody were plural, the English phrase would be "Nobody know."

It may help you to remember that nobody is singular by mentally replacing it with no one, which is synonymous and has the handy word "one" in it to remind you of how many subjects it names.

• Thankyou now I understand - Traceyadina Nov 7, 2009

Answer 2

It is kind of confusing, but compare it to the word "la familia." Even though there is more than one person in the family, grammatically it would be wrong to say, "la familia saben.." Because it is singular the conjugation of saber must follow suit. La familia sabe... would be correct.

• Thanks for that. - Traceyadina Nov 7, 2009