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Grammar Lesson 81:

The indefinite pronoun "niente"

Niente is a negative indefinite pronoun which translates as “nothing”. Niente is invariable. When it precedes the verb, it gives a negative value to the sentence on its own.

Examples:

- Niente gli farà cambiare idea. (Nothing will make him change his mind.)

- Non serve a niente dirgli che lo amo. (It is no use telling him that I love him.)

But when niente comes after the verb, you have to insert a negative adverb before the verb:

- Non mi hai ancora detto niente. (You still haven’t told me anything.)

- Anna è entrata ma non ha voluto niente. (Anna stopped by but she didn’t want anything.)

Note that when used in questions, niente translates as “something”:

- Non vuoi mangiare niente? (Do you want something to eat?)

Niente can occasionally (very rarely) be used as an adjective:

- Non aveva niente voglia di vederlo. (He / she didn’t feel at all like seeing him.)

Niente can also be used as an noun, and in that case must be preceded by an article (either definite or indefinite). It translates as "nothing" or "nothingness":

- Basta un niente perché si irriti. ( It takes the slightest thing to annoy him.)

- Un bel niente! (Nothing at all!)

- Il niente mi spaventa. (Nothingness scares me.)

Niente can also be used as an adverb:

- Non costa niente. (It costs nothing.)

- Niente affatto. (Not at all, not in the least.)

- Non vale niente. (It’s worth nothing.)

- Niente male. (Not half bad, not bad at all.)

- Non ci metto niente a farlo. (I’ll do it in no time.)

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