Which to use, ninguno or nada?

Question

When I want to answer the following questions, I find I am not sure about which word to use, ninguno or nada? Would you please explain them for me?

1. Q: Colecciono sellos, ¿y tú?

   A: No colecciono ninguno/nada.

2. Q: Tengo monedas, ¿y tú?

   A: No tengo ninguno ninguna/nada.

3. Q: Tengo un billete de 5€, ¿y tú?

   A: No tengo ninguno/nada.

ps. I have already searched for "ninguno vs nada", but what I found is not what I want. Also, please explain in English, not in all Spanish. Thanks!

Thanks, JulianChivi. Your answer made me spot a spelling mistake. - joygogo, Feb 19, 2014

Answer 1

Nada is a noun and is simply nothing.

Ninguno/a/ningún is an adjective, so it must correspond to the noun it modifies, so we can say these phrases 3 different ways:

(sellos) No colecciono ninguno / ningún sello / nada.

(monedas) No tengo ninguna / ninguna moneda / nada

(billete) No tengo ninguno / ningún billete / nada

Thanks, JulianChivi. So, in your opinion, each of the questions has three acceptable answers. Since the book gave me only one answer for each question, l had doubt if the other pronoun could be also used in the context. - joygogo, Feb 18, 2014

Answer 2

Para los ejemplos que pones, no uses ni ninguno ni nada.

1. Q: Colecciono sellos, ¿y tú?

   A: Yo no.

2. Q: Tengo monedas, ¿y tú?

   A: Yo no.

3. Q: Tengo un billete de 5€, ¿y tú?

   A: Yo no.

Sencillo.

Good solucion! - annierats, Feb 18, 2014

"Also, please explain in English, not in all Spanish. Thanks!" - ian-hill, Feb 18, 2014

This answer does not help the poster, joygogo, at all. - ian-hill, Feb 18, 2014

Ésa es tu opinión, Ian. Yo no pongo nada que no crea que pueda ayudar, no sólo al que pregunta, sino a los que leen las respuestas, que son más. No obstante, borro mi respuesta. - tiquismiquis, Feb 18, 2014

Do you know the word "cantankerous"? amigo. :) - ian-hill, Feb 18, 2014

je,je, ése es mi otro apodo, Ian. - tiquismiquis, Feb 18, 2014

ha ha we might become friends :) - ian-hill, Feb 18, 2014

Sure! - tiquismiquis, Feb 18, 2014

Treble vote! - annierats, Feb 18, 2014

Hola, tiquismiquis. Since my Spanish hasn't been good enough to read stuff in all Spanish yet, that's why I ask whoever wants to take it answers in English. Thanks for offering me another way to reply questions like these, - joygogo, Feb 19, 2014

but what I really need is a clear explanation about which word to use between ninguno and nada. Explaining in all Spanish helps a beginner like me little. - joygogo, Feb 19, 2014

cantankerous = 愛唱反調的；脾氣壞的= peevish ; apodo = nickname; treble= triple = threefold - joygogo, Feb 19, 2014

Answer 3

"Ninguno" means none, not any, no, etc.

"Nada" means nothing.

So:

1. Q: Colecciono sellos, ¿y tú?

   A: No colecciono ninguno/nada.

Because in this case, we say: "No, I don't collect any"

1. Q: Tengo monedas, ¿y tú?

   A: No tengo ninguno/nada.

Both work because we can say: "No, I don't have any/nothing"

1. Q: Tengo un billete de 5€, ¿y tú?

   A: No tengo ninguno/nada.

Here too, we can use both, we can say: " I don't have any/nothing"

Hope this helps!!! Sources: Brain

-Alyosha Romanov

Thanks, Alyosha. For Question 1, if I answer “I collect nothing”, can I use “nada”? - joygogo, Feb 18, 2014

Yes you can amiga. - ian-hill, Feb 18, 2014

Gracias, Ian. - joygogo, Feb 19, 2014