No usamos ni el alfiler ni el descosedor.

It is the Spanish way to say neither ... nor.

So ni el alfiler ni el descosedor means neither the pin nor the seam ripper.

In natural English, a sentence like this is often translated with or after a negative verb, as in We don't use the pin or the seam ripper. But in Spanish, ni ... ni ... is the standard negative pairing.

In Spanish, this is a normal pattern:

no + verb + ni + item 1 + ni + item 2

So:

No usamos ni el alfiler ni el descosedor.

Here, no negates the verb usamos, and ni ... ni ... connects the two things being excluded.

Spanish often allows what English learners think of as a double negative, but it is completely correct and standard in Spanish.

Usamos is the first person plural form of usar, so it means we use.

A useful detail: for -ar verbs, the present and preterite forms of nosotros can look identical.

So usamos can mean either:

• we use
• we used

Context tells you which one is meant. In a standalone sentence like this, the most likely reading is present: we use / we don't use.

Spanish often uses the definite article more than English does, and it is very normal to repeat it before each noun in a pair like this:

ni el alfiler ni el descosedor

That repetition makes the structure balanced and clear.

It would sound incomplete to say ni el alfiler ni descosedor. If the first noun has an article, the second one normally should too in this kind of parallel structure.

The singular here can refer to each tool as a type of tool or as the relevant tool in the situation.

Spanish often uses the singular with the definite article in a way that English may not. So el alfiler and el descosedor can mean something like the pin and the seam ripper as tools under discussion, not necessarily one physically specific object each.

If you wanted a more obviously general meaning, you could also use plurals:

No usamos ni alfileres ni descosedores.

But the original singular version is perfectly natural.

Yes, that can be possible in Spanish, and you will hear structures like that.

However, No usamos ni el alfiler ni el descosedor is the clearest and most balanced way to express neither ... nor. Repeating ni before both items makes the pairing very explicit.

So for learners, ni ... ni ... is the safest pattern to remember.

If you want the meaning neither ... nor, ni is the normal choice.

• ni ... ni ... = neither ... nor
• o = or
• y = and

So:

• No usamos ni el alfiler ni el descosedor = standard negative pairing
• No usamos el alfiler o el descosedor can sound less clear or more context-dependent
• No usamos el alfiler y el descosedor is not the normal way to express this idea

For this sentence, ni ... ni ... is the best structure.

In the standard neither ... nor pattern, yes.

With two items:

• ni X ni Y

With three items:

• ni X ni Y ni Z

So if you want a full negative list, Spanish normally repeats ni before each item.

Yes. In Spain, descosedor is a normal word for the small sewing tool used to undo stitches, what English speakers often call a seam ripper.

It comes from the verb descoser, meaning to unsew or to unpick stitches.

So the vocabulary in the sentence sounds natural for Spain Spanish.