nin ... nin
Neither ... nor
Nin ... nin means neither ... nor. It makes both options negative at once: Non quero nin té nin café, Nin el nin ela o saben.
How It Works
After the verb: keep non
- Non quero nin té nin café. (I want neither tea nor coffee.)
- Este verán non fomos nin á praia nin á montaña. (This summer we went neither to the beach nor to the mountains.)
After a negative, one nin before the last item is also enough: Non bebo té nin café, Non come nin bebe (He neither eats nor drinks).
Before the verb: no non
Nin el nin ela o saben. (Neither he nor she knows.) The first nin does the job of non. When the pair is the subject, the verb usually goes in the plural.
Joining two actions
Nin can also join whole verbs: Nin o vin nin o oín (I neither saw nor heard him). The pronoun goes before each verb, just as it does after non (see pronouns after negatives).
Spelling
Galician writes nin, with a final n. Ni is Spanish.
Related negatives
To agree with a negative statement, use tampouco. For not even, use nin sequera. Words like nunca and ninguén follow the same before-or-after rule (see double negation).
Examples (5)
- Non quero nin té nin café, grazas.
I want neither tea nor coffee, thanks.
The pair comes after the verb, so non stays in front of quero.
- Nin el nin ela o saben.
Neither he nor she knows.
The pair comes first, so there is no non. The pronoun o goes before the verb.
- Este verán non fomos nin á praia nin á montaña.
This summer we went neither to the beach nor to the mountains.
- Nin o vin nin o oín.
I neither saw nor heard him.
Nin joins two verbs, and each pronoun goes before its verb.
- O neno non come nin bebe.
The child is neither eating nor drinking.
After non, a single nin can join the second verb.
Common Mistakes
Using the Spanish spelling ni.
Non quero ni té ni café.Non quero nin té nin café.The Galician word is nin, always with a final n.
Leaving out non when the pair follows the verb.
Quero nin té nin café.Non quero nin té nin café.When nin ... nin comes after the verb, the verb still needs non. Only a pair placed before the verb replaces it.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Nin pairs excluded items and follows the ordinary negative-position rules.
Related Patterns
- nonNegation with Non
The basic negative word that nin ... nin builds on.
Level 1 - tamén / tampoucoToo and Neither
Tampouco agrees with a negative, as in Eu tampouco.
Level 2 - nin sequeraNot Even: Nin Sequera
Nin on its own can mean not even, often reinforced as nin sequera.
Level 4 - e / ou / peroAnd, Or and but
Nin is the negative partner of e and ou: Non come nin bebe.
Level 1 - Pronouns Before the Verb After Negatives
Why unstressed pronouns go before the verb after nin, as they do after non.
Level 2
Words in This Pattern
Practice nin ... nin in Bubblegum
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