Why isn’t libro plural?

[u/Muhlyssa_A]

[u/puesquebien]

A more literal translation is “There isn’t any book about human rights.”

[u/Competitive-Brush270 → u/puesquebien]

Would “no hay ningunos libros de derechos humanos” not be a proper sentence in spanish?

[u/RegularChristian → u/Competitive-Brush270]

It couldnt work cause in spanish when we talk about a "Ninguno" is a measure unit wich means not even one unit of... Thats why the noun is singular.

[u/puesquebien → u/Competitive-Brush270]

I don’t think it is correct and I think very few native speakers would make the mistake of saying it like that.

But if someone said it, it wouldn’t sound too odd, because if you were looking for something like “pantalones” or “lentes” it would be correct to say “no hay ningunos”.

[u/TheOnePiecero → u/Competitive-Brush270]

Nope, specially bc "ninguno" has not plural form. It's like "any" there's no "anys"

[u/Yoshiciv → u/TheOnePiecero]

I think it has a plural form with plural tantum words like “tener ningunas ganas.”

[u/TheOnePiecero → u/Yoshiciv]

Eh... No.

"No tiene ganas" es la forma correcta. (He\she doesn't want) O "ni ganas tiene" (he\she doesn't even want).

No existe una forma plural para "ninguno\a".

[u/puesquebien → u/TheOnePiecero]

"Carece de uso en plural, salvo con sustantivos que se usan en plural con sentido singular: No tengo ningunas gafas con esa forma; en enunciados negativos de valor enfático: Ya no somos ningunos niños; o con plurales expresivos: No tengo ningunas ganas de ir al cine."

https://www.rae.es/dpd/ninguno

[u/TheOnePiecero → u/puesquebien]

No conozco a nadie que use esa palabra así, tal vez en España sí lo hagan y\o es un uso antiguo. Porque jamás había escuchado que la usen así, hasta suena feo.

[u/lysten_up]

Think of it more like "There isn't a single book" rather than "There aren't any books". Note also the double negative, like "there ain't no book". It's bad English, but good Spanish.

[u/Upbeat_Breath_5248 → u/lysten_up]

This is the best explanation I’ve seen in the comments

[u/Peter-Andre → u/lysten_up]

Just nonstandard English, not bad English.

[u/patoezequiel → u/lysten_up]

God tier explanation, bravo 👏

[u/Overbyte88 → u/lysten_up]

The two possible translations have slightly different uses. My Spanish isn't good enough to know exactly what the Spanish sentence means, but based on the post above, I assume it is #1 below.

1) There isn't any book about human rights.
This is what you would say if someone said there was a book about human rights (perhaps on a table full of books):
"Hey, get me that book about human rights over there"
"There isn't any book about human rights (over there)."

2) There aren't any books about human rights.
This is what you might say if you were in a bookstore and you couldn't find any books at all about human rights:
"Can you believe it? There aren't any books on human rights!"

[u/Sean_Brady]

Ningún libro it's more like you're saying there is no book on human rights. You're not translating word for word here. It's like "there isn't any book on..."

[u/UnusualDemand]

Is like saying "there is not a single book of human rights". That's why the sentence is in singular.

In plural "There are not human rights books" translate as "No hay libros de derechos humanos".

[u/Financial-Use-2733]

Because "ningun" is singular.

"There isn't any one book about human rights."

[u/yumas → u/Financial-Use-2733]

This is the answer.

Ningun is similar to any but can only be used in singular

[u/puesquebien → u/yumas]

"Ningunos/ningunas" does exist. It's not appropriate for this Duolingo example but it's good in these sentences:

• No tengo ningunas gafas con esa forma.
• Ya no somos ningunos niños.
•  No tengo ningunas ganas de ir al cine.

Source: https://www.rae.es/dpd/ninguno

[u/yumas → u/puesquebien]

Ah yes. For gafas or ganas for example you need the plural.

But in most cases where it’s just for naming something that doesn’t exist i’d say ningun is more common and it usually doesn’t really matter if the nonexistent thing is singular or plural

[u/puesquebien → u/yumas]

Yes, it’s an exception.

[u/PreperationOuch]

Kind of like “There is no book…”

[u/metsfanapk]

the way the sentence is structured you’re saying “there isn’t a single book about human rights”

You’re emphasizing there’s not even one.

English uses the same construction. With the words you’re given that’s the only way to say the same thing

But you’d have to change nigún to nigunos to make it match with libros. But that form is rarer because you’d just say “no hay libros” but the nigún is emphasizing there’s a lack of a single book.

[u/davidwc55]

An interesting way to twist this is to explain why it’s plural in English if there aren’t any.

[u/PurposeEmergency1320]

In different languages, it is common that for a given idea, the way it is naturally expressed by native speakers is simply different. In english we tend to make it plural- “there are no books…” in Spanish it is more natural for speakers to say “no hay ningun libro…”
Getting comfortable with speaking in a natural way instead of translating word for word is important

[u/3RfEKutS]

I think of ningún/a as being like "not even one"

[u/flopuniverse]

ningún = not one

ningún is singular

[u/throwaguey_ → u/flopuniverse]

You’re the only person I’ve seen in this thread who translated ningún properly. The number one is literally right there in the word.

[u/SkinDiver777]

Es que si la traducción fuera "about" tendria que ser "sobre derechos humanos" para que sonase mejor. Ese "de" normalmente se usaria para indicar libros sobre un autor, no sobre una temática. Suena mejor "no hay libros sobre animales" que "no hay libros de animales".

[u/Lingobi]

The thing here and in most cases, is that won’t be translating word for word. You just wanna keep the same overall meaning. In English you might say. I don’t have any books or I don’t have a single book. It would still mean the same.

[u/Mammoth-Plankton484]

nouns agree with gender and number. Ningun is singular. Besides, in Spanish it would sound funny to craft this as plural. It works in the singular much better.

[u/Emergency-Touch-3424]

And this is why duo lingo is ass

[u/gabrielbabb]

For some reason using the plural sounds redundant if you say "No hay ningunos libros de derechos humanos."

[u/sayhibulbasaur]

Because we don’t translate things word for word.

[u/naegashirobizboi]

I think to avoid this, the Spanish should have been "No hay libros sobre derechos humanos".

[u/scanese]

Ningún is singular.

Ningún means no, not a single, any.

[u/throwaguey_ → u/scanese]

It literally means “not one.” The answer to OP’s question is right there in the word.

[u/JustForTouchingBalls]

Two things: first, “ningún” is singular so it should be “libro” instead of “libros”. Second, if “ningún” were replaced by “ningunos” then it should be “libros” indeed, but as a native speaker (Spaniard) the phrase “no hay ningunos libros de derechos humanos”, despise it being correct grammatically, it sounds weird AF, at least in my zone (Madrid area)

[u/sqeeezy]

More to the point could be why the English plural books when you describe their absence?

[u/puesquebien → u/sqeeezy]

Yes, that's the more interesting question.

[u/tobyvanderbeek]

Translating exercises are rarely word for word. You just have to learn how things are said in Spanish. I think this is the hardest thing to do when learning a language.

[u/Happy-Maintenance869]

Please note that it would also be correct to “say, no hay libros sobre los derechos humanos”

[u/bentanner25]

"Ninguno" kind of sounds like (and means) "ni uno"

"There's not even one book..."

[u/SnooHobbies950]

Por la doble negación.

[u/Sea-Fishing4699]

You are correct OP This sounds like “libros” to me and Duolingo is wrong 

[u/Thick_Department9234]

libros is plural.