algún, alguno, algunos

Question

I was wondering in what contexts do I use the three, especially algún and algunos?

My teacher said "algún libro" and "algunos libros" both mean "some books", but then is there any differences between "Hay algunos libros." and "Hay algún libro."? If yes, what is the difference?

Answer 1

There's the obvious differnece that one is in singular and the other is in plural, not quite the same

Answer 2

Actually no difference.. Algunos libros is the most common way to say it.

Answer 3

Estoy confundido,como de costumbre,

When does one use " Unos libros " for "some books" then ?

When you're saying something like: "those are some books I gotta read for an exam"/"son unos libros que tengo que leer para un examen" - diagonx, May 29, 2013

Ahaaaa ! No más confundido , ahora tengo el conocimiento . Thanks mate , that is very clear , I should have known. - ray76, May 29, 2013

Answer 4

Yes and no?

Consider the following:

There are some books on that shelf = Hay algunos libros en esa repisa.

Is there any book on that shelf = ¿Hay algún libro en esa repisa?

Are there any books.... plural right?

Answer 5

If we talk about books>

Hay algunos libros en el librero. We know there are some books in the bookcase, but we don´t anything about their contents.

Hay algún libro en el librero que se trata de geografía. We know there is one book in the bookcase that is about geography.

De todos los libros en el librero ¿hay alguno que se trata de geografía? among all the books in the bookcase, we ask if there is at least one about geography. Here alguno acts like a pronoun of book.