Expressing absence with ningún and ni siquiera
In double-negative phrases, ningún/ninguna and ni siquiera have virtually the same meaning.
No hay ningún cliente en el hotel.
There's not one customer in the hotel.
No hay ni siquiera un cliente en el hotel.
There's not even one customer in the hotel.
These are the sentence structures:
- No + verb + ningún/ninguna + singular noun.
No vino ninguna persona a la fiesta.
Not a single person came to the party.
No hay ningún metro a esta hora.
There aren't any subway services at this time of day.
- No + verb + ni siquiera + un/una + singular noun.
No tengo ni siquiera una moneda.
I don't even have a dime.
No veo ni siquiera un coche.
I can't see a single car.
- No + verb + ni siquiera + noun/verb.
Aquí no hay ni siquiera supermercados.
There aren't even supermarkets here.
Ana no quiere ni siquiera hablar del tema.
Ana doesn't even want to talk about the topic.
Notes:
- We use ningún/ninguna to state the lack or absence of something, while ni siquiera emphasizes that absence even more strongly.
- We can also express absence with a simple ni.
No hay ni un cliente en el hotel.
There's not one customer in the hotel.
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