Ni and Ni... Ni | Catalan Grammar

Catalan ni has two central jobs. Repeated as ni… ni, it coordinates alternatives that are all rejected: ni dilluns ni dimarts “neither Monday nor Tuesday.” Before one focused constituent, it can mean “not even”: ni la directora “not even the director.” English divides these meanings among neither, nor, and not even; Catalan uses the position of one small word, together with no, to show both polarity and scope.

The form ni never changes for gender or number. What changes is the structure around it: whether the coordinated phrase comes before or after the verb, which material each ni includes, and whether no is present. For the wider system of ningú, res, mai, and enlloc, see negative words.

Decision table

Meaning and position	Usual pattern	Example	Register
Neither A nor B after the verb	no + verb + ni A ni B	No menja ni carn ni peix.	All registers
Neither A nor B before the verb	ni A ni B (+ no) + verb	Ni l'Anna ni en Pol (no) vindran.	All registers; reinforced no common in careful prose
Not even X	ni (tan sols) X within a negative clause	No tenia ni cinc minuts.	Neutral
Emphatic refusal	Independent fixed phrase	Ni parlar-ne!	Informal

💡

Ask what follows each ni. That whole constituent is inside its scope. In ni amb tren ni amb autobús, each prepositional phrase is rejected; in amb ni tren ni autobús, the structure is impossible.

Negative coordination after the verb

When the coordinated items follow the verb, no normally negates the finite verb and each ni introduces one rejected alternative. The coordinated units should be parallel: noun with noun, infinitive with infinitive, or clause with clause.

No prendré ni cafè ni te; avui només vull aigua.

I’ll have neither coffee nor tea; today I only want water.

La Júlia no ha trucat ni ha enviat cap missatge des d'ahir.

Júlia has neither called nor sent any message since yesterday.

The first example rejects two objects. The second coordinates two verb phrases under one no. Repeating no is possible when the speaker deliberately presents two separate denials—La Júlia no ha trucat i no ha enviat cap missatge—but that is not the compact ni pattern.

Short paired constituents take no comma: ni cafè ni te. In a list of three or more long members, commas can mark the internal boundaries—No volia ni discutir la data, ni revisar l'acord, ni tornar a convocar la comissió—but do not insert a comma merely because the second ni has arrived. Punctuation clarifies the size of each member; it does not change polarity.

You can omit the first ni in an ordinary postverbal list: No menja carn ni peix. With ni A ni B, both alternatives receive equal, explicit focus; with A ni B, the second often sounds like an addition.

No tenim calefacció ni aigua calenta des de divendres.

We have neither heating nor hot water since Friday.

No tenim ni calefacció ni aigua calenta des de divendres.

We have neither heating nor hot water since Friday. (Both shortages are explicitly balanced.)

This is a minimal pair in emphasis, not truth conditions. In both sentences the two things are absent.

When the ni-phrase comes first

A coordinated subject or another fronted ni-phrase can itself establish negative polarity. In contemporary standard Catalan, an additional preverbal no is optional in this position and reinforces the negative reading. Both Ni l'Anna ni en Pol vindran and Ni l'Anna ni en Pol no vindran are accepted; careful Catalan often preserves the second pattern. Spanish influence is not a reason to ban no: Catalan genuinely permits negative concord here.

Ni la coordinadora ni els tècnics no sabien d'on venia l'avaria.

Neither the coordinator nor the technicians knew where the fault came from.

Ni avui ni demà podrem accedir a la sala principal.

Neither today nor tomorrow will we be able to enter the main hall.

With a subject containing two singular referents, both singular and plural agreement occur. Plural agreement is transparent and generally the safest choice when the subjects denote distinct people: Ni l'Anna ni en Pol vindran. Singular is especially natural when the alternatives are conceived separately or the verb precedes them: No ha vingut ni l'un ni l'altre. There is no honest one-line agreement shortcut; sentence structure and the way speakers package the pair both matter.

Scalar ni: “not even”

A single ni can select the least expected item on a scale. If not even that minimal or especially likely item holds, stronger alternatives are excluded by implication. English normally spells this out with not even.

Amb aquella boira no es veia ni el campanar, que és a dos carrers.

In that fog, you couldn’t even see the bell tower, which is two streets away.

Ni la seva millor amiga no sabia que pensava marxar.

Not even her best friend knew that she was thinking of leaving.

In the first sentence, ni el campanar follows the verb and therefore appears inside a clause already negated by no. In the second, the focused phrase is preverbal; the reinforcing no is accepted. Ni tan sols and ni siquiera do not have equal status: ni tan sols is idiomatic Catalan, while ni siquiera is a Spanish calque and should be avoided in standard Catalan.

No em va deixar ni tan sols acabar la pregunta.

He didn’t even let me finish the question.

The position changes scope. Compare No va convidar ni la Marta (“he did not even invite Marta”) with Ni la Marta no va convidar en Pau (“not even Marta invited Pau”). In the first, Marta is the surprising object not invited; in the second, Marta is the surprising subject who failed to invite someone.

Prepositions, clitics, and embedded material

Repeat a preposition when it belongs to each coordinated constituent and repetition helps the structure remain clear. English can leave its preposition at the end of a relative or question; Catalan does not use that stranded pattern.

No hi arribarem ni amb el tren de les sis ni amb el de dos quarts de set.

We won’t get there either on the six o’clock train or on the six-thirty one.

The locative clitic hi belongs to arribar-hi, while each amb-phrase names a rejected means of travel. The preposition is not replaced by ni.

Ni el pressupost que ens van prometre ni les dates que havíem acordat no consten al contracte.

Neither the budget they promised us nor the dates we had agreed on appear in the contract.

Here each ni governs a full noun phrase containing an embedded relative clause. The finite verb remains plural because the two complex subjects are coordinated.

Mood and tense come from the clauses that ni links, not from ni itself. In No crec que ni vingui ni truqui, both verbs are subjunctive because they depend on no crec que. The coordinator does not trigger that mood.

A natural dialogue

—T'ha contestat la Laia o el seu advocat? —Ni la Laia ni l'advocat no m'han dit res. No m'han confirmat ni la reunió ni el canvi d'hora. —Doncs no hi anem fins que ens ho aclareixin.

—Has Laia or her lawyer replied to you? —Neither Laia nor the lawyer has told me anything. They haven’t confirmed either the meeting or the time change. —Then let’s not go until they clear it up for us.

The first ni… ni is a preverbal coordinated subject with reinforcing no. The second is a postverbal coordinated object and therefore requires the clause-level no.

Fixed refusals and register

Ni parlar-ne! means “No way!” or “Absolutely not!” Ni pensar-hi! and Ni somiar-ho! are also emphatic refusals (informal). They are fixed fragments: their missing finite material is understood from context.

—Em deixaràs la moto aquesta nit? —Ni parlar-ne; encara no tens el carnet.

—Will you lend me the motorbike tonight? —Absolutely not; you still don’t have a licence. (informal)

The core syntax of ni is shared across Central, Valencian, Balearic, Northwestern, Northern, and Alguerese Catalan. Regional speech differs more in surrounding vocabulary and in how often reinforcing no is retained than in the coordinator itself. IEC and AVL standards both admit the central patterns described here.

Short correction task

Correct the polarity or parallelism.

Vull ni sopa ni amanida.
No hi anirem ni amb cotxe o amb tren.
No em va explicar ni què havia passat ni de la solució.
Ni siquiera la directora ho sabia.

No vull ni sopa ni amanida.

I want neither soup nor salad. (A postverbal ni-list needs clause negation.)

No hi anirem ni amb cotxe ni amb tren.

We will go there neither by car nor by train. (Repeat ni, and keep the preposition with each term.)

No em va explicar ni què havia passat ni com ho pensava resoldre.

He explained neither what had happened nor how he intended to solve it. (Two parallel embedded questions.)

Ni tan sols la directora no ho sabia.

Not even the director knew it. (Use Catalan ni tan sols, with optional reinforcing no.)

Common Mistakes

❌ Menjo ni carn ni peix.

Incorrect — postverbal negative coordination needs no before the finite verb.

✅ No menjo ni carn ni peix.

I eat neither meat nor fish.

❌ No parlarem ni del pressupost o del calendari.

Incorrect — o introduces an alternative, but both items are being rejected.

✅ No parlarem ni del pressupost ni del calendari.

We will discuss neither the budget nor the schedule.

❌ No sabia ni amb qui havien parlat amb.

Incorrect — this copies English preposition stranding; Catalan places amb before the interrogative.

✅ No sabia ni amb qui havien parlat.

She didn’t even know whom they had spoken with.

❌ Ni la Marta no va convidar en Pau.

Wrong for the intended meaning ‘Marta didn’t invite even Pau’: preverbal ni focuses the subject Marta.

✅ La Marta no va convidar ni en Pau.

Marta didn’t invite even Pau. (The scalar focus is the object.)

💡

Do not translate English word by word. First choose the element you are rejecting, put ni immediately before it, and then check whether the finite verb still needs—or may take—no.

Key Takeaways

After the verb, use no + verb + ni A ni B; before the verb, a ni-phrase establishes negative polarity and may take reinforcing no.
Repeated ni coordinates parallel rejected units, while single scalar ni means “not even.”
Put ni immediately before the constituent in its scope, and repeat any preposition that belongs to each coordinated term.
Use Catalan ni tan sols, not Spanish ni siquiera, in standard Catalan.

Now practice Catalan

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Catalan →