ne ... ne

Neither ... nor

Level 3

Use ne ... ne (de) to say 'neither X nor Y'. In standard Turkish, the verb remains positive because the conjunction itself provides the negative meaning.

How It Works

The ne ... ne structure is the Turkish equivalent of 'neither ... nor'. It is a powerful tool for dual negation.

1. Sentence Structure:
The items being compared are placed immediately after each 'ne'. These items must be grammatically parallel. For example, if the first item is in the accusative case, the second must be as well.

2. The Verb Polarity Rule:
In standard word order, the verb is normally positive. Because ne ... ne already carries a negative meaning, adding a negative verb (like değil or a verb with -me/-ma) usually creates a double negative. For example: Ne çay ne kahve içti (He drank neither tea nor coffee).

3. The Inversion Exception:
In an inverted sentence where the verb appears before the ne ... ne structure, the verb must be negative. For example: Görmedim ne seni ne de onu (I saw neither you nor him). This ensures the negation is established before the conjunctions are introduced.

4. Subject-Verb Agreement:
Agreement depends on the person of the subjects:
• For 3rd person subjects (he/she/it/they), the verb is usually singular (Ne Ali ne Ayşe geldi), but plural agreement is also acceptable and common when the subjects are human (Ne Ali ne Ayşe geldiler).
• If the subjects include 1st or 2nd person pronouns, the verb must agree with the resulting plural person: Ne sen ne ben biliyoruz (Neither you nor I know - 1st person plural).

5. Using 'de':
It is very common to see ne ... ne de. The addition of de/da after the second 'ne' acts as a balancer and makes the sentence sound more natural.

6. Special Grammatical Exceptions:
There are specific cases where a negative verb is required or permitted:
• Conditional Mood: When using the conditional -se, the verb is often negative to maintain the logic of the condition (e.g., Ne yaz ne kış dinlemezsen yorulursun).
• Negative Adverbs: If hiç is used in the sense of 'never' or 'not at all', the verb is negative: Ne elmaya ne armuda hiç bakmadı.

7. Multiple Items:
You can link more than two items: Ne elma ne armut ne de muz yedi. Do not use commas between items linked by these repeated conjunctions.

Examples (6)

  1. Ne çay ne de kahve içiyorum.

    I drink neither tea nor coffee.

    Word by Word: Neither tea nor also coffee I-am-drinking.

    Notice that the verb 'içiyorum' is positive, even though the meaning is negative.

  2. Bu film ne komik ne de ilginçti.

    This movie was neither funny nor interesting.

    Word by Word: This movie neither funny nor also interesting-was.

    Here, the pattern links two adjectives describing the movie.

  3. Ne sen ne de ben bu konuyu biliyoruz.

    Neither you nor I know this subject.

    Word by Word: Neither you nor also I this subject we-know.

    When the subjects include 'you' and 'I', the verb takes the 1st person plural ending '-(y)iz'.

  4. O ne arıyor ne de soruyor.

    He neither calls nor asks (about me).

    Word by Word: He neither is-calling nor also is-asking.

    This shows the pattern linking two verbs to describe a total lack of communication.

  5. Görmedim ne seni ne de onu.

    I saw neither you nor him.

    Word by Word: I-did-not-see neither you nor also him.

    In an inverted sentence where the verb comes first, the verb must be negative.

  6. Ne seni ne de onu görmek istiyorum.

    I want to see neither you nor him.

    Word by Word: Neither you nor also him to-see I-want.

    Both pronouns 'seni' and 'onu' use the accusative case because they are the objects of the verb.

Common Mistakes

  • Using a negative verb with the 'ne ... ne' pattern.

    Ne süt ne meyve suyu içmedim.
    Ne süt ne meyve suyu içtim.

    In standard Turkish, the verb is normally positive because 'ne ... ne' already carries the negative meaning. Using 'içmedim' (I didn't drink) is usually treated as an incorrect double negative.

  • Mismatched case endings on the linked items.

    Ne Ankara ne İstanbul'a gittim.
    Ne Ankara'ya ne de İstanbul'a gittim.

    Both items must have the same case suffix. Since 'gitmek' requires the dative case (-e/-a), it must be applied to both cities.

How It Connects

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

ne ... neLevel 3Neither ... nor

Learn This First

To understand 'ne ... ne' (neither ... nor), you should first be comfortable with basic Turkish sentence structure and how verbs are typically negated. This pattern is unique because it carries a negative meaning while requiring the verb to remain in its positive form, which contrasts with standard negation rules.

Words in This Pattern