ни ... ни / нити ... нити
Neither nor
Use ни ... ни with a negated verb to coordinate either words and phrases or verbal actions under a shared negative auxiliary ('neither X nor Y'). Use нити ... нити (or single clausal нити) primarily to link finite verbs or full clauses without adding extra negative particles.
How It Works
Choosing between ни ... ни and нити ... нити depends largely on sentence structure and predicate polarity.
1. Coordination with ни ... ни
• Constituents and Phrases: Conjoins nouns, pronouns, adjectives, or prepositional phrases in negative clauses: Нисам видео ни Марка ни Јована.
• Verbal Actions: Very frequently conjoins verbs or participles subordinated to a shared negated auxiliary or modal verb. In such cases, the auxiliary carries negation and the verbs remain affirmative: Нисам ни знао ни питао; Не жели ни да чује ни да види.
• Tmesis with Prepositions: Preposition splitting (tmesis) is an inherent morphological rule for all ни- pronouns with prepositions (ни са ким, not *са никим), and this naturally carries over when coordinating them: ни са ким ни за шта.
• Focus Particle: Ни can also stand alone as a scalar particle meaning 'not even' (Није ни трепнуо).
2. Coordination with нити ... нити
• Clausal and Verbal Scope: Connects two independent predications or finite verbs: Нити пије нити пуши.
• Verb Polarity Rule: A verb immediately following нити must be affirmative. Never insert не after нити (*нити не једе).
• Clitic Hosting: When clause-initial, нити counts as the first accented element and immediately hosts second-position clitics: Нити сам га видео, нити ме је звао.
• Single нити: A single нити can conjoin a second clause to an already negated first clause: Немам времена, нити ме та тема занима ('I don\'t have time, nor does that topic interest me').
• Nominal Usage: While ни ... ни is overwhelmingly preferred for noun phrases in modern standard Serbian, нити ... нити is also occasionally attested with nominal phrases in literary style (e.g. нити дан нити ноћ), though learners will sound most natural using ни ... ни for non-verbal items.
Examples (5)
- Нисам видео ни Марка ни његовог брата.
I saw neither Marko nor his brother.
Word by Word: Not-am seen neither Marko nor his brother.
The conjunction 'ни ... ни' coordinates two direct objects in a clause with a negated verb (нисам видео).
- Она нити учи нити ради.
She neither studies nor works.
Word by Word: She neither studies nor works.
Clausal coordination with 'нити ... нити'. Notice that both verbs (учи, ради) stay in their affirmative forms without 'не'.
- Немам новца, нити ми је тренутно потребан.
I have no money, nor do I need any at the moment.
Word by Word: Not-have-I money, nor to-me is currently needed.
A single 'нити' introduces an additional coordinated clause after an initially negated statement.
- Нећу разговарати ни са ким ни о чему.
I will talk neither with anyone nor about anything.
Word by Word: Not-will-I talk neither with whom nor about what.
Demonstrates preposition splitting (tmesis) with negative pronouns coordinated by 'ни ... ни'.
- Тај предлог нити је реалан нити је користан.
That proposal is neither realistic nor useful.
Word by Word: That proposal neither is realistic nor is useful.
Coordinating compound copular predicates with 'нити ... нити' using the positive copula 'је'.
Common Mistakes
Adding 'не' directly to verbs coordinated by 'нити'
Она нити не једе, нити не пије.Она нити једе, нити пије.Because 'нити' already bears clausal negative meaning, verbs coordinated directly by 'нити' remain affirmative in form. Adding 'не' immediately after 'нити' produces an ungrammatical double negative.
Omitting the negative particle on the main verb when using 'ни ... ни'
Знам ни њега ни њу.Не знам ни њега ни њу.Serbian grammar enforces negative concord. When conjoining sentence elements with 'ни ... ни', the governing predicate must still take overt verb negation.
Adding negative prefixes or particles to active participles coordinated by 'ни ... ни' after a negated auxiliary
Нисам ни не чуо ни не видео шта се десило.Нисам ни чуо ни видео шта се десило.When 'ни ... ни' coordinates verbal participles or infinitive/da-clauses under an already negated auxiliary or modal (such as 'нисам' or 'не желим'), the coordinated participles stay affirmative.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Understanding 'ни ... ни' and 'нити ... нити' requires familiarity with basic verb negation and negative concord in Serbian, as well as experience with correlative conjunction structures like 'и ... и' (both ... and).
- и ... и / или ... илиBoth and Either
Introduces the parallel correlative coordination structure (correlative conjunctions) on which 'ни ... ни' is directly patterned.
Level 1 - нико / ништа / нигде + Negated VerbNobody Nothing and Nowhere
Introduces negative concord (double negation) with ni- forms in Serbian, essential for correctly integrating negative conjunctions with negated verbs.
Level 2
Related Patterns
- ни са ким / ни о чемуNegative Pronouns with Prepositions
Explains prepositional insertion (tmesis) when combining 'ни' with negative indefinite pronouns.
Level 3 - не + Verb / нисам / немам / нећуVerb Negation
The foundational verbal negation pattern required whenever using constituent 'ни ... ни'.
Level 1 - не ... негоCorrecting One Idea with Another
Adversative construction contrasting a negated constituent with an affirmative replacement ('not X but Y').
Level 5
Words in This Pattern
Practice ни ... ни / нити ... нити in Bubblegum
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