нито... нито

Neither ... nor

Level 3Sounds Like nito... nito

Нито X, нито Y means neither X nor Y. When it follows the verb, the verb still takes не: Не пия нито кафе, нито чай.

How It Works

1. After the verb: keep не. When the two нито parts come after the verb, the verb is negated with не (or is already negative, like нямам):

  • Не пия нито кафе, нито чай. (I drink neither coffee nor tea.)
  • Не видях нито Иван, нито Мария. (I saw neither Ivan nor Maria.)
  • Нямам нито време, нито пари. (I have neither time nor money.)

This is the same double negation as in Никой не дойде.

2. Нито before the verb: no extra не. When each нито introduces its own verb or clause, нито itself negates it:

  • Нито ям, нито спя. (I neither eat nor sleep.)
  • Нито той знае, нито тя. (Neither he nor she knows.)

3. Punctuation. Put a comma before the second нито, never before the first: Не пия нито кафе, нито чай.

4. Related patterns. Или ... или offers two options, and хем ... хем says that both are true. A single нито can mean not even: Не каза нито дума. (He didn't say a single word.) See нито for emphasis.

Examples (6)

  1. Не пия нито кафе, нито чай.

    I drink neither coffee nor tea.

    The verb keeps не, and a comma comes before the second нито.

  2. Нито той знае, нито тя.

    Neither he nor she knows.

  3. Нито ям, нито спя.

    I neither eat nor sleep.

    Here нито stands before each verb and negates it by itself.

  4. Не видях нито Иван, нито Мария.

    I saw neither Ivan nor Maria.

  5. Той не е нито висок, нито нисък.

    He is neither tall nor short.

  6. Нямам нито време, нито пари.

    I have neither time nor money.

    Нямам is already negative, so no extra не is needed.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out не before the verb when a нито phrase follows it.

    Пия нито кафе, нито чай.
    Не пия нито кафе, нито чай.

    When нито ... нито follows the verb, Bulgarian still negates the verb with не.

  • Leaving out the comma before the second нито.

    Не пия нито кафе нито чай.
    Не пия нито кафе, нито чай.

    Paired conjunctions like нито ... нито take a comma before the second part.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

нито... нитоLevel 3Neither ... nor

Learn This First

Neither ... nor builds on either ... or and double negation.

Words in This Pattern

нито