Français — ne...ni...ni (neither...nor)

To express "neither... nor...", French uses ne before the verb and ni before each of the coordinated elements, as in Je ne mange ni viande ni poisson.

How it works

✓ Rule

ne stays before the verb and ni is repeated before each negated element; the indefinite and partitive articles (un, une, des, du, de la) drop out: Il n'a ni frère ni sœur, Elle ne boit ni thé ni café. The definite article is kept: Je n'aime ni le rock ni le jazz.

Examples

Patterns with ni
French	Meaning
Il n'a ni frère ni sœur.	He has neither a brother nor a sister (articles dropped).
Elle ne boit ni thé ni café.	She drinks neither tea nor coffee (partitive dropped).
Je n'aime ni le rock ni le jazz.	I like neither rock nor jazz (definite article kept).
Ni Paul ni Marie ne sont venus.	Neither Paul nor Marie came (ni... ni before the verb).
Ni l'un ni l'autre ne me plaît.	Neither one (of the two) pleases me — fixed phrase.
Il est parti sans manteau ni parapluie.	He left without a coat or an umbrella — sans... ni.

Good to know

⚠ Note

pas is never used with ni — say Il n'a ni frère ni sœur, not Il n'a pas ni frère ni sœur. When the ni... ni group is the subject, the verb still keeps ne and is usually plural: Ni Paul ni Marie ne sont venus.