Something, nothing, somebody, nobody, in Spanish
algo - something
nada - nothing
alguien - somebody
nadie - nobody
Yo tengo algo. (I have something.)
Yo conozco a alguien. (I know somebody.)
In English, we cannot use double negatives:
We say either I have nothing or I don't have anything. (We use anything instead of nothing in negative sentences.)
In Spanish, we must use double negatives:
Yo no tengo nada. (Lit. I don't have nothing.)
Yo no conozco a nadie. (Lit. I don't know nobody.)
We cannot use nada or nadie in affirmative sentences.
I have nothing and I don't have anything can only be translated into yo no tengo nada.
I know nobody and I don't know anybody can only be translated into yo no conozco a nadie.
Progress, Vol. 2
Progress, all volumes
Active recall
Rereading feels productive but fades fast. What actually works is closing the page and trying to recall what you just learned. The effort of reconstructing knowledge from memory is what makes it stick.