Né... né... — Neither... Nor in Italian | Italian Grammar

To say "neither X nor Y" in Italian, you reach for né... né... It looks like a clean one-to-one match for English "neither... nor," but the way Italian threads this construction through a sentence trips up nearly every English speaker. The catch: when né... né... comes after the verb, you must keep non in front of the verb. Italian wants both negative markers in the same clause. To an English ear that sounds like a contradictory double negative; to an Italian ear, dropping the non sounds like a sentence missing a piece.

This page covers the core pattern, the position-driven variants, verb agreement, lists of three or more, and the single use of né as "nor." It also flags the orthographic distinction every learner has to keep straight: né with an acute accent is "nor"; bare ne is the partitive pronoun "of it / some." They are different words.

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

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

Non + verb + né X né Y.

Non mangio né carne né pesce.

I eat neither meat nor fish.

Non ho né tempo né voglia di discuterne.

I have neither the time nor the desire to discuss it.

Stasera non bevo né vino né birra — guido io.

Tonight I'll drink neither wine nor beer — I'm driving.

Non vedo Marco da mesi: non risponde né ai messaggi né alle chiamate.

I haven't seen Marco in months — he answers neither texts nor calls.

The structure has three obligatory pieces: non before the verb, né before the first alternative, né before the second. To English ears the non feels like an extra "not" that ought to cancel out the rest. In standard English, "I don't eat neither meat nor fish" is bad grammar. In Italian, the equivalent triple is the only correct form.

This is the same logic that drives Italian's broader system of negative concord (see Double Negation). When a negative element appears after the verb, it must be licensed by a non earlier in the clause. The two markers cooperate: non announces the negation, né... né... specifies what is being negated.

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The single most important rule on this page: postposed né... né... requires non before the verb. Drop the non and the sentence is ungrammatical. Non mangio né carne né pesce — never Mangio né carne né pesce.

When né... né... is fronted, non disappears

If you move the né... né... construction to the front of the clause, the non drops out. The fronted negative element carries the negation by itself.

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 il caffè né il tè mi tengono sveglio dopo le nove.

Neither coffee nor tea keep me awake after nine.

So the rule is symmetric and complementary:

Né X né Y + verb — fronted, no non
Non + verb + né X né Y — postposed, non required

You cannot mix them. Non né Marco né Luigi sono venuti is wrong; Mangio né carne né pesce is wrong.

This is the same pattern as nessuno (nobody) and niente (nothing): preverbal use drops non (Nessuno è venuto), postverbal use keeps it (Non è venuto nessuno). Once you internalize the principle — non is required only when the negative element follows the verb — né... né... slots into the system you already know.

Verb agreement: singular or plural?

When né X né Y is the subject, what number does the verb take? Both options exist, and both are accepted in modern Italian, but they carry different stylistic weights.

Traditional rule: singular. The reasoning is logical — the negation denies each alternative one at a time, never both together, so the subject is conceptually "one or the other," never "both."

Modern usage: plural is increasingly common, especially in journalism and everyday speech, treating the two coordinated nouns as a single set even though that set is being 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 — natural in modern Italian)

Né il freddo né la pioggia ci hanno fermati.

Neither the cold nor the rain stopped us. (plural — feels natural)

In careful written Italian, the singular has the edge. In conversational Italian and modern journalism, the plural is the default. Either is grammatical.

When the two subjects are of different grammatical persons — say, lui (third person) and io (first person) — the verb takes the plural and agrees with the highest-priority person on the standard hierarchy: first beats second, second beats third. This is the same hierarchy that governs Marco e io → noi.

Né lui né io abbiamo capito niente di quel discorso.

Neither he nor I understood anything in that speech.

Né tu né lei dovete preoccuparvi: ci pensiamo noi.

Neither you nor she need to worry — we'll handle it.

The first-person form (abbiamo, siamo) wins as soon as io is in the coordination, even buried at the end. This is rigid: ❌ Né lui né io ha capito is wrong, even though it follows the singular tradition with a third-person verb.

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

Italian extends né indefinitely. There is no special word for the third or fourth alternative — you just keep adding né.

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.

In quel paesino non c'è né farmacia né supermercato né bancomat.

In that little village there's neither a pharmacy nor a supermarket nor an ATM.

When you list three or more items, you have a punctuation choice. In simple conversational lists, commas are usually omitted: Non mangio né carne né pesce né uova. In rhetorical or deliberate prose, each né can be set off with a comma for emphasis: Né il caldo, né il freddo, né la pioggia... The comma version slows the reader down and lands each item separately — useful for emphasis, less natural for everyday lists.

The single né — "nor" or "and not"

Italian also uses né alone, without a partner, to chain a second negation onto a previous negative clause. This is essentially shorthand for e... non... — "and not."

Non sono andato alla festa, né ho intenzione di andarci in futuro.

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

Non lo conosco bene, né mi interessa conoscerlo meglio.

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

The pattern: a first clause carries a negation (non + verb), and a second clause begins with né and extends the negation without needing to repeat non. The bare né alone is enough to negate the second clause.

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, ti avverto.

Nor do I want to hear any more excuses, I'm warning you.

A bare né opening a stand-alone sentence (as in the examples above) carries an emphatic, slightly elevated flavor — common in writing, oratory, and deliberate speech, less common in casual conversation.

Né... né... coordinating different parts of speech

Né... né... doesn't only coordinate nouns. It coordinates anything that can be coordinated: verbs, adjectives, prepositional phrases, adverbs, even subordinate clauses.

Non posso né voglio aiutarti in questa situazione.

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

Quel film non è né bello né interessante: due ore buttate.

That film is neither beautiful nor interesting — two wasted hours. (two adjectives)

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

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

Non credo né che venga né che chiami.

I don't believe he'll come, nor that he'll call. (two subjunctive clauses)

When the coordinated elements are subordinate clauses, each che-clause keeps the mood the matrix verb requires. Credere in the negative takes the congiuntivo, so both che-clauses use it: che venga... che chiami. Coordination by né... né... doesn't override mood requirements set higher in the structure.

Né... né... and other "not... and not..." constructions

Italian has a stylistically heavier alternative: non + verb + X + e non + verb + Y ("not X and not Y"). It is grammatical but clunky, and né... né... is the natural form.

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 non... e non... pattern is fine when the two halves are syntactically very different. Otherwise, né... né... is the elegant choice.

The accent on né — why it matters

Italian distinguishes two words that look similar:

né (acute accent on the e) — the negative coordinator "nor"
ne (no accent) — the partitive pronoun "of it / of them / some"

They are different words: different grammatical categories, different stress patterns, different spellings. Confusing them is the kind of mistake that makes learners look careless even when they understand the grammar.

Non ho né latte né zucchero.

I have neither milk nor sugar. (né = nor)

Vuoi del caffè? Sì, ne voglio un po'.

Do you want some coffee? Yes, I'd like a bit (of it). (ne = partitive pronoun)

If you mean "nor" — write né, with the acute accent. If you mean the partitive "of it / of them" — write ne, no accent. The accent is not a flourish; it is the only thing distinguishing the two words on paper.

For the partitive pronoun in detail, see The Particle ne. For more on Italian's accent system, see the wider orthography pages.

"Me neither" — the conversational reply

When you want to agree with someone else's negative statement — English "Me neither" — Italian has two paths: Né io (literary, formal) and Neanch'io / Neppure io / Nemmeno io (everyday speech, see Neanche, Neppure, Nemmeno).

— Non ho fame. — Né io.

— I'm not hungry. — Nor am I. (literary tone)

— Non ho fame. — Neanch'io.

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

In contemporary spoken Italian, neanch'io wins. Né io is grammatical and sometimes appears in writing for stylistic effect, but in casual conversation it sounds a half-step too formal.

Comparison with English

English "neither... nor" is the closest match, but the surface grammar diverges in three places.

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 negation maps to 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 literary.)	Different idiomatic conventions in reply

The biggest gap is the double negation with postposed né... né...: Non mangio né carne né pesce is the only acceptable form. This is the single place where English speakers most reliably produce ungrammatical Italian — by dropping the non on instinct.

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. The fronting carries the negation by itself.

✅ Né Marco né Luigi sono venuti.

Neither Marco nor Luigi came.

❌ Non parla o italiano o inglese.

Wrong — 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 lui né io ha capito niente.

Wrong agreement — when né lui né io is the subject, the verb agrees with the higher-priority person, here first plural: abbiamo capito.

✅ Né lui né io abbiamo capito niente.

Neither he nor I understood anything.

❌ Non ho ne tempo ne voglia.

Spelling error — the conjunction is né, with the acute accent. Bare ne is the partitive pronoun, a different word.

✅ Non ho né tempo né voglia.

I have neither time nor desire.

Key takeaways

Né... né... = "neither... nor." Always with the acute accent on the e: né, never ne (which is the partitive pronoun, a different word).
Postposed né... né... requires non before the verb. Non mangio né carne né pesce — never Mangio né carne né pesce. This is Italian's mandatory negative concord at work.
Fronted né... né... drops non. Né Marco né Luigi sono venuti. The fronting carries the negation alone.
Verb agreement is traditionally singular (non viene né Marco né Luca) but plural is fully accepted (non vengono né Marco né Luca). With mixed persons, use the plural and the highest-priority person: né lui né io abbiamo.
Italian extends né indefinitely for three or more items: né X né Y né Z.
A single né chains a negation onto a previous negative clause: Non lo conosco, né mi interessa conoscerlo.
"Me neither" in everyday speech is neanch'io (or neppure io / nemmeno io); né io is markedly literary.

For the wider correlative system — sia... sia..., o... o..., non solo... ma anche... — see Correlative Conjunctions. For neanche, neppure, nemmeno, see Neanche, Neppure, Nemmeno. For Italian's broader pattern of mandatory double negation, see Double Negation.

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