Learn Italian: Non so niente. - I don't know anything.

Non so niente.

I don't know anything.

Breakdown of Non so niente.

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Questions & Answers about Non so niente.

Why is the verb so here, and what is its dictionary form?

So means "I know". It is the "I" form of the irregular verb sapere (to know). Because it is irregular, it doesn't follow the normal -ere ending rules, so you just have to memorize that "I know" is io so (or simply so).

Why does the sentence use both non and niente? Doesn't that mean "I don't know nothing"?

Yes, it literally translates to "I don't know nothing," but in Italian, double negatives are perfectly correct and actually required! To say you don't know "anything," you must put non before the verb and niente after it.

Where is the word for "I" (io) in this sentence?

In Italian, the subject pronoun is usually left out because the verb form so already tells us exactly who is doing the action. You could say Io non so niente, but Italians drop the io unless they want to emphasize that they specifically don't know anything.

Can I use nulla instead of niente here?

Yes! Niente and nulla both mean "nothing" or "anything." You could easily say Non so nulla and it would mean exactly the same thing in this sentence.