Meaning of niente in Italian
Niente is a pronoun that can be translated into English as “nothing” or “anything”.
Niente
Nothing, anything
Niente in Italian: Examples
Non ho niente da dirti.
I have nothing to tell you.
Senza aria né acqua, niente potrebbe vivere.
Without air and water, nothing could live.
Non c’è niente di cui aver paura.
There’s nothing to be afraid of.
Non ho niente di particolare da dire.
I have nothing particular to say.
Non ho fatto nulla durante le vacanze.
I did nothing during the holidays.
Using niente in Italian
We’ve said that niente in Italian is a pronoun that can mean “nothing” or “anything”. It is perfectly interchangeable with nulla, which also means “nothing”.
Nulla
Nothing, anything
Niente is only used with things, never with people (and it doesn’t have to match the noun in gender and number). If you’re talking about someone, use nessuno.
Niente is also often used with adverbs such as mai (never), ancora (still) and più (anymore).
Now for the tricky part. Niente has a negative meaning when it’s used in front of a the verb.
Niente può fermarmi.
Nothing can stop me.
Niente mi fa paura.
Nothing frightens me.
However, it is accompanied by the negative adverb non when it comes after the verb, making it a double negative. Niente is most often used in this position.
Non può fermarmi niente.
Nothing can stop me.
Non mi fa paura niente.
Nothing scares me.
Mio fratello non fa mai niente.
My brother never does anything.
Non ho più letto niente. Non ho mai tempo!
I haven’t read anything any more. I never have time!
Niente in Italian: Expressions
There are a number of common idiomatic expressions featuring niente in Italian. These are…
- per niente (at all)
- niente male (not bad)
- niente paura! (there’s nothing to be afraid of!)
- buono a niente (good for nothing)
- far finta di niente (to play it off)
- come se niente fosse (as if nothing has happened)
- meglio di niente (better than nothing)
- per niente al mondo (at all costs)
- niente di niente (nothing at all)
- niente di tutto questo (none of this)
- niente a che fare con (nothing to do with)
- darsi al dolce far niente (to indulge in sweet idleness)
- non fare niente per niente (to do nothing for nothing)
- non avere niente di meglio da fare (to have nothing better to do)
- non c’entra niente (this has nothing to do with it)
- non c’è più niente da fare (there’s nothing left to do)
- non avere niente da ridire (to have nothing to complain about)
- niente di nuovo sotto il sole (nothing new under the sun)
More free Italian resources
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