Published October 4, 2024 • Updated June 12, 2026 — By French teacher David Issokson with native audio by Marie Assel Cambier
Ni… ni — Meaning and Pronunciation
Ni… ni is a French negation structure meaning “neither… nor.” It is used to negate two or more items in the same sentence. The verb is preceded by ne, and each element being negated is introduced by ni. For example: Il ne parle ni anglais ni espagnol. (He speaks neither English nor Spanish.)
IPA pronunciation of ni… ni is /ni … ni/ (IPA), which sounds approximately like “nee … nee”.
Example sentences
In this sentence, a single ni follows ne to link two verbs in a negative statement.
Je ne fume ni ne bois.
I neither smoke nor drink.
In this sentence, ni… ni connects two nouns in a negative expression.
Martin n’a ni volonté ni ambition.
Martin has neither willpower nor ambition.
👉 See also: Avoir conjugation (to have) »
If the definite article (le, la, les = the) appears in the affirmative sentence (e.g. J’aime le thé et le café – I like tea and coffee), it is retained when using ni… ni.
Je n’aime ni le thé ni le café.
I like neither tea nor coffee.
If the partitive article (du, de la, de l’, des = some) appears in the affirmative sentence (Je commande de l‘eau et de la bière / I’m ordering water and beer), it disappears when using ni… ni.
Je ne commande ni eau ni bière.
I order neither water nor beer.
Je n’achète ni pommes ni oranges.
I buy neither apples nor oranges.
👉 Still not 100% sure about the articles (definite, partitive etc.)? Check out my French articles explanation — it helps!
Related Words and Expressions
Here are some other words that are closely related to ni… ni:
- ne… pas — not
- ne… jamais — never
- ne… rien — nothing
- ne… personne — nobody, no one, not anybody
- ne… que — only, nothing but
- ne… aucun — not any / none
- ne… guère — hardly / scarcely
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