Why does this sound unatural?
I have been told that the following expression sounds unnatural to the native spanish ear. No había nadie que viniera.(there wasnt anyone that was coming.) in the following context...... One day me and my family were out to eat. After finishing our meal, we decided to go across the street to the mall. So, we exited the resteraunt and looked both ways. There was nobody coming, so we crossed.
I'm wanting to know if this statement is correct grammatically, and if so, why does it sound unatural? Does it sound unnatural for the context? Is it just that it would sound better to say it another way? What is the problem here?
It is just wierd because there are so many other expressions that use this construction such as the following sentances...
No había nadie que me pudiera ayudar.
No hay alguien que sepa la verdad.
No había nadie que tuviera una casa nueva
If natives could answer this question it would be appreciated. Thanks
1 Answer
It sounds unnatural in that context. You should only be cautious if there is a car coming, so in Spanish we would say something like "No venía ningún carro" or "No se aproximaba nada/[ningún coche/carro/auto]".
