No hay ninguna

[BobRitter]

No hay ninguna cura para esta enfermedad.

I know I have seen this before but don't remember the reasons.

Isn't "no hay ninguna" redundent?

[Julvenzor]

Yes, just like "any" would be in English.

A pleasure.

[BobRitter]

So is it correct Spanish syntax?

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

For this case, it's kind of redundant, but double negatives are usual (if not necessary) in Spanish.

- No hay ninguna cura para esta enfermedad. = No hay cura para esta enfermedad.

However:
- No fui a ninguna fiesta en diciembre.
I didn't go to any party in december.
-> We never say: "No fui a fiesta en diciembre", but we could have said "no fui a fiestas en diciembre" (I didn't go to parties in december); with "fiestas", in plural, we never use "ningunas".

- No conozco a nadie aquí. = No conozco a ninguna persona aquí.
I don't know anyone here. / I don't know any person here.
-> Double negative is necessary, as "conozco a nadie aquí" sounds fragmentary.

- No sabemos nada de eso.
We don't know anything about that.
-> "Sabemos nada de eso" is awkward ...or poetic if you wish, but not daily speech.

- No habíamos estado nunca en esta ciudad.
We had never been in this city.
-> There is no way to keep this construction without the double negative.


And yet, if you don't start the sentence with "no", then the double negative is not necessary; it might sound a little like Yoda-speech, but it's valid to speak like that:

- Ninguna cura hay para esta enfermedad.
- A ninguna fiesta fui en diciembre.
- A nadie conozco aquí.
- A ninguna persona conozco aquí.
- Nada de eso sabemos.
- Nunca habíamos estado en esta ciudad.

[BobRitter]

Gracias Angelita. Es muy interesante. Me encanta el Yada-speech.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Me da gusto que te haya servido de ayuda. =)