Is Nothing Singular or Plural?

The basic rule seems so simple: A singular noun takes a singular verb (such as es, tiene or estaba), while a plural noun takes a plural verb (such as son, tienen or estaban).

But if you've been studying Spanish beyond the basics, you know that the rules are seldom that simple. For example, does a word such as grupo (group), which is singular in itself but refers to more than one entity, take a singular or plural verb? How about a word such as ninguno or nada, which can refer to zero of something? These questions and more are answered in our lesson covering situations where grammatical number may not be obvious.