ne ... ne

Neither ... nor

Level 3

Put ne before each of the two parts and a comma before the second ne. Unlike English, Latvian usually negates the verb as well: Es nedzeru ne tēju, ne kafiju (I drink neither tea nor coffee).

How It Works

1. Two objects. Es nedzeru ne tēju, ne kafiju. The verb nedzeru is negative, and each ne stands before its noun.

2. Two subjects. Ne Anna, ne Pēteris vakar neatnāca. (Neither Anna nor Pēteris came yesterday.) The verb is negated here too.

3. After nav. Things that are absent go in the genitive: Šeit nav ne veikala, ne kafejnīcas (There is neither a shop nor a café here), Man nav ne brāļu, ne māsu (I have neither brothers nor sisters).

4. Two verbs. When ne ..., ne joins two verbs, each ne is written as a separate word and does the negating itself: Viņš ne ēd, ne guļ (He neither eats nor sleeps). Normally ne is joined to the verb (compare ne- + verb), but in pairs like this it stands apart.

5. After ir. When ne ..., ne joins two descriptions after ir, it does the negating and the verb stays positive: Viņš ir ne jauns, ne vecs (He is neither young nor old).

6. The comma. Put a comma before the second ne, as with gan ..., gan.

7. Formal style. Nedz ..., nedz means the same in formal writing.

Examples (5)

  1. Es nedzeru ne tēju, ne kafiju.

    I drink neither tea nor coffee.

    The verb is negated as well as the two nouns.

  2. Man nav ne laika, ne naudas.

    I have neither time nor money.

    After nav, laiks and nauda become the genitive laika and naudas.

  3. Ne Anna, ne Pēteris vakar neatnāca.

    Neither Anna nor Pēteris came yesterday.

  4. Viņš ne ēd, ne guļ.

    He neither eats nor sleeps.

    With two verbs, each ne is written separately and negates its verb.

  5. Šeit nav ne veikala, ne kafejnīcas.

    There is neither a shop nor a café here.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving the verb positive, as in English neither ... nor.

    Es dzeru ne tēju, ne kafiju.
    Es nedzeru ne tēju, ne kafiju.

    When ne ..., ne joins the subjects or objects of a verb, standard Latvian negates the verb as well, like with nekas and nekad: nedzeru.

  • Using the nominative after nav.

    Man nav ne laiks, ne nauda.
    Man nav ne laika, ne naudas.

    In standard Latvian, things that are missing after nav go in the genitive.

  • Leaving out the comma before the second ne.

    Man nav ne laika ne naudas.
    Man nav ne laika, ne naudas.

    Latvian puts a comma before each repeated ne.

How It Connects

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

ne ... neLevel 3Neither ... nor

Learn This First

Neither ... nor combines joining and negation.

Words in This Pattern

ne