The ni- Words and the Obligatory Negative Verb

Czech has a small, closed set of negative words that all start with ni-: nikdo (nobody), nic (nothing), nikdy (never), nikde (nowhere), nikam (to nowhere), nijak (in no way), plus the adjective žádný (no, none). Every single one of them obeys an iron rule: the verb in the sentence must also be negated. Where English says "I see nothing" with a positive verb, Czech says "I don't see nothing" — and that double negative is not sloppy, it is the only grammatical option. This page is your inventory of the ni- words and a drill on the rule that binds them to a negative verb.

This is the inventory and rule page. The deeper mechanics of how several negatives stack up in one clause live on the multiple-negation page and the ni-series concord page — here we focus on the closed set and the one rule.

The ni- inventory

Every ni- word is built by prefixing ni- onto a question or indefinite stem. They line up almost perfectly against the positive ně- series ("some-"):

Notice that the negative of nějaký is irregular: it is žádný, not nijaký. That one you simply memorize. Everything else follows the clean ně- → ni- swap. (Note also that nic is the negative of něco, dropping to a short form.)

The one rule: the verb must be negative

This is the heart of the page. Whenever a ni- word appears, the verb takes the negative prefix ne-. There is no version of these sentences with a positive verb.

Look at each: nikdo + nepřišel, nikdy + nelžu, nic + nechci. The ni- word and the negative verb travel together as a unit. English fights this — "I want nothing" feels complete — but in Czech Nic chci is simply broken.

This last one stacks two ni- words (nikde + nic) and still only needs the verb negated once: nevidím carries the negation for the whole clause. Piling up negatives never cancels them out — they reinforce each other. (That stacking is exactly what the multiple-negation page is about.)

Declining the ni- words

The adverbs nikdy, nikde, nikam, nijak never change form. But nikdo, nic, and žádný decline.

nikdo — "nobody" (declines like kdo)

nic — "nothing" (declines like co)

Here bát se ("to fear") governs the genitive, so "nothing" surfaces as the genitive ničeho — and the verb is still negated (nebojím).

žádný — declines like a hard adjective

Žádný agrees with its noun in gender, number, and case, exactly like the adjective mladý ("young"): žádný (m.), žádná (f.), žádné (n.), accusative žádného / žádnou / žádné, and so on.

In žádnou knihu the adjective is feminine accusative singular (agreeing with kniha); in žádné peníze it is the plural form (peníze is plural-only). The verb is negative every time. For the full range see žádný — no / none.

Position is flexible; the negation is not

Ni- words can sit before or after the verb depending on emphasis, but the verb stays negated either way.

Both are correct. Fronting nikoho simply throws extra weight onto "nobody." What you can never do is drop the ne- from the verb.

ani — "not even / nor"

Closely allied to the ni- family is ani ("not even, nor"), which likewise demands a negative verb and often pairs with a ni- word for emphasis.

For the ani… ani… ("neither… nor…") construction, see ani — neither / nor.

Contrast: the positive ně- series

To feel the rule from the other side, remember that the ně- words take a positive verb. Swapping ni- for ně- flips the whole sentence's polarity — and removes the verb negation.

Set these beside Nikdo nepřišel, Nic nechci, Nikdy nelžu and the system is plain: ně- = positive word, positive verb; ni- = negative word, negative verb. See the ně- series for the positive counterparts in full.

Common mistakes

Žádný is a negative word; it forces the verb into nemám. A positive mám is ungrammatical here.

The ni- word nic must be matched by the negative verb nechci, never the positive chci.

Even in the accusative, nikoho still requires the verb to be negative (nevidím).

If you mean "in no way," you need the ni- form nijak; the ně- form nějak means "somehow" and changes the sense entirely.

Using the positive někdo with a negated verb says "some particular person failed to come." For "nobody," you need the ni- word nikdo (with the verb still negated).

Key takeaways