You are surely familiar with the Spanish pronoun nada with the meaning of "nothing." But are you aware that it can have several additional meanings and translations? Let's explore many of them!

banner2 PLACEHOLDER

Nada Meaning "Nothing"

Before we learn several of the lesser-known meanings of the Spanish word nada, let's look at its most common usage. Like "nothing" in English, the pronoun nada in Spanish can mean an absence or lack of anything, as we see here:

Es una palabra que define todo y nada al mismo tiempo

It's a word that defines everything and nothing at the same time

Caption 55, Carlos comenta Confidencial - Jerga típica colombiana

 Play Caption

Alternative Meanings of Nada

Now, let's move on to our 7 additional meanings of the Spanish word nada that may not initially come to mind. 

1. Anything:

When used with a double negative, the English equivalent of the pronoun nada in Spanish changes to "anything":

No, hoy no tengo nada qué hacer.

No, today I don't have anything to do.

Caption 42, Conversaciones en el parque Cap. 5: Me gusta mucho este parque.

 Play Caption

For a more in depth explanation of this topic, check out Yabla's lesson entitled Nada: Nothing or Anything?

2. None:

When the pronoun nada in Spanish is used to mean "none," it is typically accompanied by the preposition de, as we see below:

¿Por qué hace como si nada de esto estuviera pasando?

Why are you acting as if none of this were happening?

Caption 25, Confidencial: Asesino al Volante Capítulo 4 - Part 8

 Play Caption

3. Any:

Similarly to the manner in which nada can mean either "nothing," or "anything," its meaning also changes from "none" to "any" when used with the preposition de in a double negative sentence:

¡No, no... no! -No tiene que hacer nada de esto. -¡No, no, no, no, no!

No, no... no! -You don't have to do any of this. -No, no, no, no, no!

Caption 16, Tu Voz Estéreo Embalsamado - Part 17

 Play Caption

4. At All:

In this usage, nada functions as an adverb that can be translated with the English phrase "at all":

pero como no lo hago nada bien,

but since I don't do it well at all,

Caption 5, Beatriz Expresiones con colores

 Play Caption

5. Nowhere:

Moving on to some uses of the Spanish word nada as a noun, let's see how la nada can mean "nowhere":

"¿La gente cómo puede vivir en medio de la nada, no?",

"How can people live in the middle of nowhere, right?"

Caption 3, Hispanoamericanos en Berlín Irwin y la acuarela - Part 3

 Play Caption

6. Nothingness:

Like the pronoun nada, the noun la nada can describe a complete lack of anything:

Era el frío de la nada

It was the cold of nothingness

Caption 41, Acercándonos a la Literatura José Asunción Silva - "Nocturno III"

 Play Caption

7. Void:

The Spanish noun la nada can additionally be translated as "the void" when referring either to empty space in a physical sense or one's feeling of emptiness:

Y mi papá miraba hacia la nada con una rabia feroz de la que no era muy consciente.

And my dad stared into the void with a ferocious rage he wasn't very conscious.

Caption 54, Los Años Maravillosos Capítulo 2 - Part 1

 Play Caption

banner PLACEHOLDER

Expressions With Nada in Spanish

Now that you have learned 7 alternative English translations for the Spanish word nada, let's look at some common Spanish fixed expressions that include it, noting their English equivalents:

1. Antes de nada:

Antes de nada, vamos a repasar algunos conceptos e información necesaria

Before anything else, we're going to review some concepts and necessary information

Caption 1, Raquel y Marisa Aprender a conducir - Part 1

 Play Caption

2. Antes que nada:

Pero antes que nada, lo básico:

But first of all, the basics:

Caption 2, Conversaciones con Luis Astrología

 Play Caption

3. Como si nada:

y que anda por ahí como si nada, entonces.

and that he's out there as if it were nothing then.

Caption 20, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 2 - Part 4

 Play Caption

4. De nada:

De nada. Estoy para servirle. Permiso.

You're welcome. I'm at your service. Excuse me.

Caption 61, Programación de oficina El dictado del jefe

 Play Caption

5. Más que nada:

Bueno, ahora estoy haciendo, más que nada, un trabajo con los niños

Well, now, I'm doing, above all else, a project with children

Caption 28, Cleer Entrevista con Jacky

 Play Caption

6. Nada más:

no le importa nada más.

nothing else matters to them.

Caption 34, Aprendiendo con Silvia Frases hechas - Part 1

 Play Caption

7. No tener nada que ver con:

pero que no tiene nada que ver con temas religiosos.

but which has nothing to do with religious themes.

Caption 25, Viajando con Fermín La Feria de Santo Tomás

 Play Caption

8. Para nada:

¿Entonces no importa si la llamo? Para nada. -¡Para nada! 

Then it doesn't matter if I call her? Not at all. -Not at all!

Captions 43-44, Los Años Maravillosos Capítulo 5 - Part 7

 Play Caption

9. Primero que nada:

Primero que nada, pedirte perdón por lo de ayer.

First of all, to apologize for yesterday.

Caption 12, Confidencial: Asesino al Volante Capítulo 5 - Part 4

 Play Caption

10. Pues nada:

Pues nada, espero que... hayáis conocido un poquito este deporte, esta escuela, a mí,

Anyway, I hope that... you've learned a little bit about this sport, this school, myself,

Captions 80-81, Escuela de Pádel Albacete Hablamos con José Luis

 Play Caption

That's all for today. We hope that this lesson has helped you to understand many of the meanings of the Spanish word nada beyond simply "nothing," and don't forget to write us with your questions and suggestions. 

banner4 PLACEHOLDER

Are you familiar with the Spanish preposition entre? While the preposition entre in Spanish is most often a direct equivalent for the many uses of the English words "among" and "between," it can occasionally be utilized in slightly different ways and with different translations than its English counterparts. Today's lesson will explore many of its nuances.

banner3 PLACEHOLDER

1. State Between Two Things 

According to the Dictionary of the Spanish language, the Spanish preposition entre "denotes the situation or state in between two or more things." Let's break up this definition into a few subcategories:

Relationships:

The Spanish preposition entre might describe the nature of a relationship "between" entities, whether talking about bloodlines or quality. Let's see an example of each:

La relación entre José y yo. ¿José es mi...? -Hermano.

The relationship between Jose and me. Jose is my...? -Brother.

Captions 19-20, Curso de español Vamos a hablar de la familia

 Play Caption

La relación entre mi papá y mi abuela era tan amistosa como la que tenía Rusia con Estados Unidos.

The relationship between my dad and my grandma was as friendly as the one Russia had with the United States.

Captions 8-9, Los Años Maravillosos Capítulo 13 - Part 2

 Play Caption

State:

Now, let's look at an example where entre describes the "state" between two things:

encontréis ese equilibrio entre cuerpo y mente.

you find that balance between body and mind.

Caption 60, Ana Teresa 5 principios del yoga

 Play Caption

Comparison:

And finally, like the English word "between," the Spanish preposition entre can be employed to compare things:

¿Y sabéis cuál es la diferencia entre la lava y el magma? 

And do you know what the difference between lava and magma is?

Caption 24, Aprendiendo con Silvia Los volcanes

 Play Caption

banner4 PLACEHOLDER

2. "Within" or "In"

The preposition entre in Spanish also comes up in some situations in which an English speaker might use the word "in" or "within." Examining two different captions from the same video, note that while the first has been translated with the more literal "among," it could be substituted with the English word "in," while "in" is probably the only suitable choice in the second example.

3. An Intermediate State

Another use of the Spanish preposition entre is to refer to an intermediate state between two or more things:

This Spanish preposition can furthermore depict an intermediate physical location:

4. "As One of"

The word entre in Spanish can likewise entail the idea of inclusion, as in the following two examples, where it could be replaced by the English phrase "as one of":

No gané el concurso, pero quedé entre los finalistas

I didn't win the contest, but I placed among the finalists,

Captions 46-47, Aprendiendo con Carlos El microrrelato - Part 3

 Play Caption

Entre ellos, tenemos estos burros de peluche que a la gente le gusta mucho.

Among them, we have these stuffed donkeys that people like a lot.

Captions 14-15, Santuario para burros Tienda solidaria

 Play Caption

5. Entailing Cooperation

As we see in the following examples, the Spanish preposition entre might also evoke the idea of collaborative effort:

Si podemos imaginarlo, entre todos podemos lograrlo.

If we can imagine it, among all of us, we can achieve it.

Caption 9, Con ánimo de lucro Cortometraje - Part 1

 Play Caption

El plato se llama "La Deli" y entre los tres le vamos a dar forma y la decoración.

The dish is called "The Deli," and between the three of us, we're going to give it shape and decorate it.

Caption 24, Misión Chef 2 - Pruebas - Part 7

 Play Caption

6. "According to the Custom of"

If you wish to speak about what is done customarily "among" particular groups, the Spanish preposition entre could additionally come in handy:

"Hermano" es una palabra que se usa mucho entre amigos 

"Brother" is a word that is used a lot among friends

Caption 35, Carlos comenta Confidencial - Jerga típica colombiana

 Play Caption

una serie argentina que es muy popular entre nuestros usuarios.

an Argentine series that is very popular among our users.

Captions 3-4, Carlos y Cyndy Comentario sobre Muñeca Brava

 Play Caption

7. Reciprocity

And finally, the preposition entre in Spanish can suggest reciprocity, in which case it might be translated with the English "each other."

y cómo se apoyaban entre ellos.

and how they supported each other.

Caption 19, Aprendiendo con Silvia Nacionalidades y adjetivos - Part 2

 Play Caption

se juntaban las españolas de ese pueblo para hablar entre ellas.

the Spanish women from that town would get together to talk to each other.

Captions 49-50, Soledad Amistades

 Play Caption

We hope that this lesson has helped you to better understand the many uses of the Spanish preposition entre, especially those that are slightly different than the manners in which its English equivalents "among" and "between" are employed. Feel free to write us with your questions and suggestions.

banner4 PLACEHOLDER

Welcome to the second part of this lesson where we touch on all the different Spanish verb tenses! So... how many tenses in Spanish did we say there were? Sixteen! In the first part, we covered the ten "official" tenses of the indicative mood, which deals more with concrete facts, in addition to some "bonus" (non-official) tenses. Now, we'll move on to the other two Spanish moods: the subjunctive, where we will cover tenses eleven through sixteen of the Spanish verb paradigm, and the imperative. If you didn't already, we definitely recommend checking out Part 1 of this lesson. 

banner2 PLACEHOLDER

The Subjunctive Tenses

While the indicative mood deals with facts, the subjunctive mood in Spanish, in a nutshell, deals with more abstract notions like wishes, desires, emotions, opinions, and more, which require a whole different set of tenses in Spanish. Although it would be impossible to delve too deeply into the multipronged usage of the subjunctive Spanish mood, we will try to illustrate several cases in which you might come across it. Let's get started!

11. Present Subjunctive (Presente del subjuntivo)

The present subjunctive is the subjunctive equivalent of the simple present tense. Let's take a look at an example from the Yabla Spanish library: 

Note that the reason the subjunctive form is employed here (we can tell it is subjunctive due to its conjugation, hable, which differs from its indicative form, habla) is because the sentence conveys that we want (queremos) for someone not to talk to us in a particular way, which doesn't mean that that person will actually respect our desire. Let's take a look at one more example: 

Here, the word mejor (better) tips us off that the subjunctive form (hablemos instead of hablamos) is in order due to the expression of someone's opinion about what should happen, which doesn't necessarily mean that it will. 

12. Imperfect Subjunctive (Imperfecto de subjuntivo)

The imperfect subjunctive is the past equivalent of the present subjunctive. We see in the following example that the verb hablar has been conjugated in the imperfect subjunctive (habláramos) instead of in the indicative (hablábamos) due to the expression of desire, once again with the verb querer:

No, no te dije que quería hablar con vos, quería que habláramos los dos. 

No, I didn't tell you that I wanted to talk to you; I wanted for us to talk, the two [of us].

Caption 46, Muñeca Brava 43 La reunión - Part 6

 Play Caption

Another very common use of the imperfect subjunctive is to talk about hypothetical situations. In this case, the imperfect subjunctive is often incorporated into a "si (if) clause" in conjunction with the conditional tense to communicate that "if" something were the case, then something else "would" happen, as in the following clip:

The hypothetical situation the teacher is going for here is: Si hablara ruso, viviría en Rusia (If I spoke Russian, I'd live in Russia). To learn more about this type of construction, we highly recommend the entire series of which this video is a part. 

13. Future Subjunctive (Futuro (simple) de subjuntivo)

We definitely couldn't come up with any examples of the future subjunctive tense in our Yabla Spanish library because this tense is all but obsolete and is almost never even taught in modern Spanish. For that reason, you may not recognize it due to its different and little-seen conjugations, although you may occasionally come across it in legal documents or literature. We came up with this example:

El que hablare fuerte se echará de lo biblioteca. 

Whoever talks loudly will be thrown out of the library. 

The future subjunctive could conceivably be used here because the sentence refers to "whoever," rather than known individuals, as well as alluding to a possible future event. However, in modern Spanish, this very same idea would be conveyed with the present subjunctive:

El que hable fuerte se echará de lo biblioteca. 

Whoever talks loudly will be thrown out of the library. 

14. Present Perfect Subjunctive (Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo)

The present perfect subjunctive is the equivalent of the present perfect indicative in situations that require the subjunctive, and the verb haber is thus conjugated in its subjunctive form. That said, we'll take this opportunity to mention another case that requires subjunctive: when expressing that something will happen "when" something else happens that hasn't yet, as in the following example:

Cuando se hayan hablado, se van a entender mejor.

When they've talked to each other, they are going to understand each other better. 

And, here's an additional example of the present perfect subjunctive from our Spanish video library with different verbs:

Espero que os haya gustado este vídeo sobre esta maravillosa planta y hayáis aprendido algo nuevo. 

I hope you've liked this video about this wonderful plant and have learned something new.

Captions 80-81, Fermín La plumeria - Part 1

 Play Caption

15. Pluperfect Subjunctive (Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo)

The pluperfect subjunctive is the subjunctive equivalent of the pluperfect tense and is also used to talk about hypothetical situations. It is formed with the pluperfect form of haber plus the participle, and, like the imperfect subjunctive, it is often used in conjunction with the conditional or conditional perfect to describe what "would have" happened if something else "had been" done. Let's see an example:

Si yo hubiera hablado con mi jefe antes, habría evitado cualquier malentendido. 

If I had spoken with my boss previously, I would have avoided any misunderstanding.

Let's look an additional example of the pluperfect subjunctive tense, which does not include the conditional:

Es como si nunca hubiéramos hablado. 

It's as if we had never talked.

Caption 28, Los Años Maravillosos Capítulo 8 - Part 6

 Play Caption

The Spanish phrase como si (as if) quite often precedes verbs in the pluperfect subjunctive tense. 

16. Future Perfect Subjunctive (Futuro compuesto de subjuntivo)

Like the future subjunctive, the future perfect subjunctive is rarely encountered and might only be employed in literary or legal contexts to talk about what will happen in the future if a hypothetical situation "has not" yet occurred. It involves the future subjunctive form of the verb haber plus the participle, as follows:

Si el demandante todavía no hubiere hablado ante el tribunal para la fecha especificada, se desestimará su caso. 

If the plaintiff still hasn't spoken before the court by the specified date, his case will be dismissed. 

However, the present perfect subjunctive would take the place of the future perfect subjunctive in order to say this today:

Si el demandante todavía no haya hablado ante el tribunal para la fecha especificada, se desestimará su caso. 

If the plaintiff still hasn't spoken before the court by the specified date, his case will be dismissed. 

Since different verb conjugations are rarely required in English to talk about emotions, desires, or hypotheticals, the subjunctive mood can initially feel quite confusing for English speakers, and we hope that this lesson has this shed some light on some of the possible subjunctive scenarios in Spanish. For more information about the subjunctive in Spanish, the following link with take you to several additional lessons on different aspects of this topic. 

banner4 PLACEHOLDER

The Imperative "Tenses"

Let's conclude our rundown of all Spanish tenses by talking about the "bonus" tenses in the imperative mood (modo imperativo), which are not included in the official classification of the different tenses in Spanish. Also called commands, these Spanish verb tenses are those that tell someone to do something, and they fall into several categories:

1. Commands with tú (informal "you") :

Habla con la gente de laboratorio.

Talk to the people from the lab.

Caption 36, Confidencial: Asesino al Volante Capítulo 1 - Part 11

 Play Caption

2. Negative commands with tú:

A ver. Sebas, mi amor, no le hables así a tu papá.

Let's see. Sebas, my love, don't talk to your dad like that.

Caption 30, La Familia Cheveroni Capítulo 1 - Part 2

 Play Caption

3. Commands with vos (informal "you" in certain regions):

por favor hablá con Andrea; necesito encontrar a mi nieto. 

please talk to Andrea; I need to find my grandson.

Caption 59, Muñeca Brava 48 - Soluciones - Part 9

 Play Caption

4. (Negative or positive) commands with usted (formal "you"):

Hable más despacio.

"Hable más despacio" [Speak more slowly].

Caption 40, Carlos explica El modo imperativo 2: Irregulares, Usted + plurales

 Play Caption

5. (Negative or positive) commands with ustedes (plural "you"):

Pues no me hablen de costumbre porque luego en vez de ganar, pierdo.

Well don't talk to me about habits because then instead of earning, I lose.

Caption 7, La Banda Chilanguense El habla de México - Part 3

 Play Caption

6. Commands with vosotros/as (informal plural "you"):

Con vosotros o vosotras: Hablad más despacio.

With "vosotros" or "vosotras" ["you" plural informal masculine/feminine]: "Hablad más despacio" [Talk more slowly].

Caption 25, Carlos explica El modo imperativo 1: Tú + vos

 Play Caption

7. Negative commands with vosotros/as:

No nos habléis de esa forma.

Don't speak to us in that way. 

8. (Negative or positive) commands with nosotros/as (we): 

Hablemos de otra palabra.

Let's talk about another word.

Caption 19, Carlos comenta Confidencial - Jerga típica colombiana

 Play Caption

While we won't get into the norms for conjugating all of these types of commands with -ar, -er, and -ir verbs, we recommend Yabla's four-part video series entitled El modo imperativo (The Imperative Mode), beginning here, which explores this topic. 

And that wraps up our lesson on all of the verb tenses in Spanish. We hope you've enjoyed it (and learned a lot)! And don't forget to leave us your suggestions and comments. 

banner2 PLACEHOLDER

Let’s talk about prepositions in Spanish! In this lesson, we will discuss the very often used and common preposition de. This preposition has lots of uses in Spanish and because of that, we can use it like the following English prepositions: from, of, in, and even than. Let’s have a look.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

How to use the preposition de in Spanish​

There are several ways we can use the preposition de in Spanish. For example, we use the preposition de when we want to indicate the nationality or origin of someone or something:

¿De dónde eres? -Soy de Alemania

Where are you from? -I am from Germany.

Captions 36-37, Curso de español - ¿De dónde eres?

 Play Caption

We also use the preposition de when we want to indicate the material that something is made of.

El lápiz está hecho de madera.

The pencil is made of wood.

Caption 40, Aprendiendo con Karen - Útiles escolares

 Play Caption

Similarly, we use the preposition de when we want to describe the features or characteristics of someone or something, in other words, when we want to describe a noun with another noun.

Se toma mucho el jugo de naranja que tiene mucha vitamina C.

Orange juice is consumed a lot as it has a lot of vitamin C.

Caption 74, Otavalo - Conozcamos el Mundo de las Frutas con Julia

 Play Caption

Eh, sobre todo aquí tenemos libros de historia de, eh…

Um, most of all, here we have history books about, um…

Caption 60, El Instituto Cervantes - Jefa de biblioteca

 Play Caption 

Un profesor de español.

A Spanish teacher.

Caption 22, El Aula Azul - Cursos y actividades de la escuela

 Play Caption

One of the most common uses of the preposition de is when we use it to talk about possession. Let’s look at an example.

Es una empresa de tradición familiar, de mis abuelos.

It's a company with a family tradition from my grandparents.

Caption 50, Europa Abierta - Carne ecológica y segura

 Play Caption

In the example above, you can see that the first de is used to describe the company, while the second de is used to indicate possession (the company belongs to the grandparents). We can also use the preposition de in terms of “possession” when we want to indicate the relation that connects people.

El novio de Claudia es un tipo muy pinta.

Claudia's boyfriend is a very "pinta" [handsome] guy.

Caption 27, Carlos comenta - Confidencial - Jerga típica colombiana

 Play Caption

The preposition de also helps us to indicate a cause when it is placed after an adjective and before a verb.

Estoy ya cansado de estar endeudado

I am tired of being in debt (I’m tired because I’m always in debt)

Caption 3, Bacilos - Mi Primer Millón

 Play Caption

We can also use the preposition de when we want to express something using a comparison or a point of reference with the expressions más de (more than) or menos de (less than):

Sí, un poquito menos de quinientos mil habitantes.

Yes, a little less than five hundred thousand inhabitants.

Caption 47, Buenos Aires - Heladería Cumelen

 Play Caption

Besides the uses we mentioned above, we also use the preposition de when talking about expressions of time. Let’s see how:

Supongamos que son las cinco de la tarde

Let's suppose that it's five in the evening

Caption 66, Carlos explica - El pretérito Cap. 2: Perfecto compuesto I

 Play Caption

And finally, we use the preposition de along with the preposition a to indicate a particular range or period. Like in the following example:

El horario es de lunes a viernes

The schedule is from Monday to Friday

Caption 69, Negocios - La solicitud de empleo

 Play Caption

To summarize, the following are the most common uses of the preposition de in Spanish:

- To indicate nationality or origin

- To indicate the material that something is made of

- To describe the features or characteristics of someone or something (to describe a noun with another noun)

- To indicate possession

- To indicate a cause (after an adjective and before a verb)

- To express a comparison or point of reference (with más de or menos de)

- To talk about expressions of time

- To indicate a particular range (with the preposition a)

The contraction del in Spanish

When the preposition de goes before the definite article el, you need to combine the two words using the contraction del (de + el). Just as it happens with the contraction al (a + el), when you have the preposition de next to the article el, the contraction del is mandatory!

Estos son los números del uno al cien.

These are the numbers from one to a hundred.

Caption 44, El Aula Azul - Los Números del 1-100

 Play Caption

In this example, we can see both contractions (del and al) in action. Also, in this sentence, the speaker is using the preposition de and the preposition a together because she is indicating a range. Remember that it would be wrong to say that sentence in the following way: Estos son los números de el uno a el cien.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

That's all for now. If you feel like it, try writing sentences with all the different uses we have mentioned for the preposition de. And don’t forget to send your feedback and suggestions.