Italian Language Lessons
Grammar, spelling, and usage
Italian Negative Expressions
Workbook Exercises About This Topic
Printer–Friendly Version
Not in a very agreeable mood today? There are a number of negative expressions to counteract all those smiley, happy people. Some very common negative expressions include the following:
non cambiare una virgola (not to change a single word)
non dire una sillaba (not to say a word)
non per la quale (not to be trusted)
Non vale! (That's not fair/that's cheating!)
fuori dal nulla (out of the blue)
buono a nulla (good for nothing)
Other common phrases that rely on the negatives are listed in below:
| NEGATIVE PHRASES |
|---|
| da niente | not important |
| mai | never |
| nessuno | no one, nobody |
| niente (nulla) | nothing |
| né...né | neither...nor |
| nessun | no, not...any |
| neanche, nemmeno, neppure | not even |
| per niente | at all |
Note that nessun is used as an adjective, and must agree in gender and number with the thing that it describes. Moreover, nessun and niente usually follow the verb when they act as the object. When one of these words is the subject of the sentence, its position can vary:
Nessuno parla. (No one speaks.)
Neinte ci piace. (We like nothing at all.)
Non parla nessuno. (No one speaks.)
To review the negatives, compare the two sets of phrases in the following table:
| POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE PHRASES |
|---|
| POSITIVE | NEGATIVE |
|---|
| Ha fame. (She is hungry.) | Non ha fame. (She isn't hungry.) |
| Ho comprato qualcosa. (I bought something.) | Non ho comprato niente. (I didn't buy anything.) |
| Ride sempre. (He always laughs.) | Non ride mai. (He never laughs.) |
| Vediamo qualcuno. (We see someone.) | Non vediamo nessuno. (We don't see anyone.) |
| Italian Language Study Resources |
| Language Lessons: Italian grammar, spelling, and usage. |
| Audio Phrasebook: Improve your pronunciation and build your vocabulary. |
| Workbook Exercises: Worksheets, drills, activities, and review. |
| Buon Divertimento: Italian jokes, riddles, and puns. |
| Italian Verbs: Formation, moods, tenses, and table of conjugations. |
| Study Guides: Challenge your skills and test your knowledge of various topics. |
| Audio Lab: Word of the day, survival phrases, ABC's, numbers, and conversation. |
Newsletter
