Né... né... (Neither... Nor) | Italian Grammar

To say "neither X nor Y" in Italian, you use the correlative né... né... It looks deceptively similar to English "neither... nor," but the way it works inside an Italian sentence is governed by a strict rule that catches almost every English speaker the first time: when né... né... appears after the verb, you still need non in front of the verb. Italian, unlike English, allows — in fact requires — the negation to be marked twice. This page covers that rule, the position variants, the verb-agreement question, and the related single né with the meaning "nor."

The basic pattern: non + verb + né X né Y

The default Italian construction for "I don't [verb] either X or Y / I [verb] neither X nor Y" is:

Non + verb + né X né Y.

Non mangio né carne né pesce.

I eat neither meat nor fish. / I don't eat meat or fish.

Non parla né italiano né inglese.

He speaks neither Italian nor English.

Non ho né tempo né voglia di discutere.

I have neither the time nor the desire to argue.

Non bevo né vino né birra a pranzo.

I drink neither wine nor beer at lunch.

The key feature: non sits in front of the verb, and né... né... follows. Both negative markers are present at the same time. To an English ear this sounds like a double negative ("I don't eat neither meat nor fish") that should logically cancel itself out — but in Italian, double negation is the standard way to negate, not a logical contradiction. The two markers cooperate: non negates the verb, and né... né... coordinates the two negated alternatives.

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This is the single most important thing to internalize about né... né... in Italian. Unlike English, which drops "not" because "neither/nor" is enough on its own, Italian keeps both. Non mangio né carne né pesce — both non and the two né are required. Drop the non and the sentence becomes ungrammatical when né... né... follows the verb.

When né... né... comes first: the non disappears

If you front the né... né... construction — putting it before the verb — the non drops out. The fronting itself carries the negation; adding non on top would be redundant.

Né Marco né Luigi sono venuti alla festa.

Neither Marco nor Luigi came to the party.

Né mio padre né mia madre lo sapevano.

Neither my father nor my mother knew.

Né lui né io vogliamo discutere di politica.

Neither he nor I want to argue about politics.

Né il caffè né il tè mi tengono sveglio.

Neither coffee nor tea keep me awake.

So the rule is symmetric:

Né X né Y + verb (no non) — fronted, negation handled by the né pair
Non + verb + né X né Y — postposed, non required before the verb

You can't have both non and a fronted né... né...: ❌ Non né Marco né Luigi sono venuti is wrong. And you can't drop non when né... né... is postposed: ❌ Mangio né carne né pesce is wrong.

Verb agreement with né... né...

When né X né Y is the subject of the verb, what number does the verb take? The traditional rule says singular — because the negation denies both alternatives one at a time, never both together. Modern usage, however, increasingly tolerates plural agreement, treating the two subjects as a coordinated set even though they are negated.

Non viene né Marco né Luca.

Neither Marco nor Luca is coming. (singular — traditional)

Non vengono né Marco né Luca.

Neither Marco nor Luca are coming. (plural — increasingly common)

Né il freddo né la pioggia ci hanno fermati.

Neither the cold nor the rain stopped us. (plural — natural in modern Italian)

Né il freddo né la pioggia ci ha fermati.

Neither the cold nor the rain stopped us. (singular — also acceptable)

In careful formal writing, the singular is still preferred. In everyday speech and modern journalistic prose, the plural is fully naturalized. Either is acceptable; the singular is slightly more "correct" by traditional standards, the plural slightly more natural-sounding.

When the two subjects are of different persons (like né lui né io), the plural form must agree with the speaker-included person — usually first-person plural, just like Marco e io would.

Né lui né io abbiamo capito niente.

Neither he nor I understood anything.

Né tu né lei dovete preoccuparvi.

Neither you nor she need to worry. (second person plural)

Three or more items: né X né Y né Z...

Italian extends né indefinitely — there is no different word for the third or fourth alternative.

Non mi piacciono né la carne né il pesce né le uova.

I don't like meat, fish, or eggs.

Né il caldo, né il freddo, né la pioggia ci fermeranno.

Neither heat, nor cold, nor rain will stop us.

Non parla né italiano né inglese né francese.

He doesn't speak Italian, English, or French.

Italian sometimes punctuates each né with a comma in lists of three or more, especially in deliberate or rhetorical writing. In simple conversational Italian, commas are usually omitted before each né.

Single né — "nor" or "(not) even"

Italian also uses a single né — without a partner — to mean "nor" or "and not even." This is essentially shorthand for e... non..., a way to chain a second negation onto a previous one.

Non sono andato alla festa, né ci voglio andare in futuro.

I didn't go to the party, nor do I want to go in the future.

Non lo conosco, né mi interessa conoscerlo.

I don't know him, nor am I interested in getting to know him.

Non l'ha detto, né l'ha mai pensato.

He didn't say it, nor has he ever thought it.

The pattern: a first clause carries a negation (with non), and a second clause beginning with né extends the negation without needing to repeat non. The né alone is the negative marker for the second clause.

A bare né can also begin a stand-alone sentence in elevated or rhetorical style:

Non è una decisione facile. Né lo sarà mai.

It's not an easy decision. Nor will it ever be.

Né voglio sentire altre scuse.

Nor do I want to hear any more excuses.

This use is more common in writing than speech, and it carries a slightly emphatic or formal flavor.

Né alone as "nor I" / "nor me" — the agreement formula

A very common conversational use: a short response of agreement with a negation. English: "Me neither." Italian: né io or, more often, neanch'io / neppure io / nemmeno io (see Neanche, Neppure, Nemmeno).

— Non ho fame. — Né io.

— I'm not hungry. — Me neither. (literary tone)

— Non ho fame. — Neanch'io.

— I'm not hungry. — Me neither. (everyday speech)

In contemporary spoken Italian, neanch'io / neppure io / nemmeno io are far more common than né io as a stand-alone reply. The bare né io sounds more literary or formal.

Né... né... with all kinds of constituents

Né... né... doesn't only coordinate nouns. It coordinates anything: verbs, adjectives, prepositional phrases, adverbs, clauses.

Non posso né voglio aiutarti.

I neither can nor want to help you. (two verbs)

Non è né bello né interessante.

It's neither beautiful nor interesting. (two adjectives)

Non l'ho visto né a casa né al lavoro.

I didn't see him either at home or at work. (two prepositional phrases)

Non parla né velocemente né chiaramente.

He speaks neither quickly nor clearly. (two adverbs)

Non credo né che venga né che chiami.

I don't think he'll come, nor that he'll call. (two clauses with congiuntivo, governed by *credere*)

When the coordinated elements include subjunctive-triggering subordinate clauses, both che-clauses keep the congiuntivo independently — né... né... doesn't change the mood requirements of the subordinator above it.

Né... né... vs. non... e non... — and other alternatives

There is another way to say "neither X nor Y" in Italian that is grammatically simpler but stylistically heavier: non + verb + X + e non + Y ("not X and not Y"). It is correct but clunky and would normally be replaced by né... né... for elegance.

Non mangio carne e non mangio pesce.

I don't eat meat and I don't eat fish. (correct but heavy)

Non mangio né carne né pesce.

I eat neither meat nor fish. (the natural form)

The same applies to non... o... / non... o non...: technically possible, stylistically inferior. Italian strongly prefers the dedicated né... né... construction.

A related conversational pattern: non... né... (without the second né), with a comma and a stand-alone né in a second clause. This is the chained-negation pattern from earlier:

Non bevo, né fumo.

I don't drink, nor smoke.

It is a slight stylistic variant of Non bevo né fumo, with a tonal pause that gives the second negation more weight.

Comparison with English

English "neither... nor" is the most direct correspondence to né... né..., but the surface differences are substantial:

English	Italian	Note
I eat neither meat nor fish.	Non mangio né carne né pesce.	Italian keeps non before the verb
Neither Marco nor Luigi came.	Né Marco né Luigi sono venuti.	No non when né... né... is fronted
I don't smoke or drink.	Non fumo né bevo.	English "or" after a negative ↔ Italian né
Nor do I want to.	Né voglio. / Né lo voglio fare.	Bare né for chained negation
Me neither.	Neanch'io. (Né io is more literary.)	Different idiomatic conventions in reply

The biggest difference is the double negation with postposed né... né... — Italian's non + né + né feels logically wrong to an English speaker and feels logically obligatory to a native Italian. Until you internalize this, it is the single most reliable place where English speakers produce ungrammatical Italian: dropping the non before the verb in Non mangio né carne né pesce.

Common Mistakes

❌ Mangio né carne né pesce.

Wrong — postposed *né... né...* requires *non* before the verb.

✅ Non mangio né carne né pesce.

I eat neither meat nor fish.

❌ Non né Marco né Luigi sono venuti.

Wrong — fronted *né... né...* doesn't take *non*.

✅ Né Marco né Luigi sono venuti.

Neither Marco nor Luigi came.

❌ Non parla o italiano o inglese.

Wrong construction — Italian uses *né... né...* for negative coordination, not *o... o...* with *non*.

✅ Non parla né italiano né inglese.

He speaks neither Italian nor English.

❌ Né io fumo né bevo.

Awkward — when both halves share the same subject, the *né* coordinates the verbs, not subjects + verbs.

✅ Non fumo né bevo. / Né fumo né bevo.

I neither smoke nor drink.

❌ — Non ho fame. — Né io neanche.

Redundant — *né io* and *neanch'io* both mean 'me neither'; you don't combine them.

✅ — Non ho fame. — Neanch'io. / — Né io.

— I'm not hungry. — Me neither.

A note on the slug

Some learners encounter this conjunction first in Spanish, where the spelling is ni... ni... (without the accent and pronounced differently). The Italian form is né — with a closed-e accent — and pronounced /ne/, never /ni/. The two are historically related but distinct words, and confusing the spellings will cost you accuracy on every test and in every reading of Italian. Always write the Italian conjunction as né, with the acute accent over the e.

Key takeaways

Né... né... = "neither... nor." Always with the acute accent on the e: né, not ne (which is a different word — see The Particle ne).
Postposed né... né... requires non before the verb. Italian double negation is required, not optional. Non mangio né carne né pesce is the only correct form.
Fronted né... né... drops non. Né Marco né Luigi sono venuti. The fronting carries the negation by itself.
Verb agreement is traditionally singular (non viene né Marco né Luca) but plural is increasingly accepted (non vengono né Marco né Luca). Both are fine in modern usage.
A single né chains a negation onto a previous negative clause: Non lo conosco, né mi interessa conoscerlo.
The English-style "Me neither" is normally neanch'io in modern speech; né io is markedly literary.
For the wider correlative system — sia... sia..., o... o..., non solo... ma anche... — see Correlative Conjunctions. For the broader negation system, see Né... né constructions and Neanche, Neppure, Nemmeno.

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