Todo, otro, demasiado, nada/nadie in Spanish (A2)

what is it?

Spanish has a set of high-frequency quantifiers — todo, otro, demasiado, and nada/nadie — each with a grammatical behaviour that does not map neatly onto its English equivalent. Todo requires a determiner after it when it means «the whole of» or «all»; otro never takes an indefinite article; demasiado agrees in gender and number as an adjective but is invariable as an adverb; and nada and nadie are negative pronouns that require no second negative particle when they come before the verb.

when to use it

todo/toda/todos/todas — use to mean «all», «every», or «the whole of». When it modifies a noun, it must be followed by a definite article (el, la, los, las), a possessive (mi, tu, su…), or a demonstrative (este, ese…). Use the plural forms todos/todas for «all» with a countable noun.
otro/otra/otros/otras — use to mean «another» or «other». It already carries the sense of indefiniteness, so un/una is never added before it.
demasiado — use to mean «too much» or «too many» (adjective) or «too» (adverb). As an adjective before a noun it agrees in gender and number. As an adverb before an adjective or another adverb it is invariable.
nada / nadie — use nada for «nothing» (referring to things) and nadie for «nobody» (referring to people). When they appear before the verb, no second negative is needed. When they appear after the verb, no must precede the verb.

formation

The table below shows the forms of each quantifier. Nada and nadie are invariable pronouns and have only one form each.

quantifier	masculine singular	feminine singular	masculine plural	feminine plural
todo	todo	toda	todos	todas
otro	otro	otra	otros	otras
demasiado (adjective)	demasiado	demasiada	demasiados	demasiadas
demasiado (adverb)	demasiado	demasiado	demasiado	demasiado
nada / nadie	nada	nadie	—	—

todo + determiner + noun: the determiner (article, possessive, or demonstrative) is obligatory. The pattern is todo/a/os/as + [det] + noun, e.g. toda la clase, todos mis amigos, todo este tiempo.

otro directly before the noun: no article is inserted. The pattern is simply otro/a/os/as + noun, e.g. otro café, otras personas.

examples in context

Toda la clase aprobó el examen.

The whole class passed the exam.

Todo agrees with the feminine noun clase and is followed by the definite article la — neither can be dropped.

No quiero este café, ponme otro.

I don't want this coffee, give me another one.

Otro is used alone as a pronoun here — no article before it.

Has traído demasiados libros para un solo viaje.

You have brought too many books for a single trip.

Demasiado acts as an adjective modifying the masculine plural noun libros, so it takes the form demasiados.

No hay nadie en la oficina y no quiero nada de postre.

There is nobody in the office and I don't want anything for dessert.

Both nadie and nada follow the verb, so no must appear before the verb in each clause.

Todos los estudiantes tienen un libro.

All the students have a book.

Todos agrees with the masculine plural noun estudiantes and is followed by the definite article los.

Esta música es demasiado alta.

This music is too loud.

Here demasiado is an adverb modifying the adjective alta — it does not change form.

common pitfalls

Dropping or misagreeing the determiner after todo.
Todo must be followed by a determiner when it modifies a noun. Omitting it or using the wrong form of todo is a very common error.
✗ *todo los estudiantes
Wrong — determiner missing and todo not plural.
✓ todos los estudiantes
Correct — todos agrees with the plural noun and los is present.
Adding un/una before otro.
English «another» is a contraction of «an other», which leads learners to write *un otro. In Spanish, otro already contains the indefinite sense — no article is added.
✗ *un otro café
Wrong — un is not used before otro.
✓ otro café
Correct — otro directly before the noun.
Leaving demasiado invariable before a noun.
When demasiado precedes a noun it is an adjective and must agree in gender and number with that noun. Only when it modifies an adjective or adverb does it stay invariable.
✗ *demasiado problemas
Wrong — demasiado does not agree with the masculine plural noun problemas.
✓ demasiados problemas
Correct — demasiados agrees with the masculine plural noun.

Quick check

Three sentences, graded here. Nothing is saved and no account is needed.

1 / 3

___ la ropa del armario está en el suelo y tengo que ordenarla ahora.

Fill in the blank with the correct form of todo.