ELONIO
Log inSign up

Non ha fatto nessun errore nel test.

Non ha fatto nessun errore nel test.
He made no mistake in the test.
From Lesson 256:The negative adjective (nessun, nessuna)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Non ha fatto nessun errore nel test.

Why is it nessun and not nessun' before a vowel here?
Because errore is a masculine noun. You use nessun (without an apostrophe) before masculine singular nouns that start with a vowel or most consonants. The form with an apostrophe, nessun', is strictly for feminine nouns starting with a vowel (like nessun'amica).
In English, we usually say "He made no mistakes" in the plural. Why is errore singular?
In Italian, the negative adjective nessuno (in all its phonetic forms like nessun, nessuna, etc.) is almost exclusively used with singular nouns. So, while English speakers often say "no mistakes" or "not any mistakes", Italians say nessun errore (literally "not one mistake").
Why do we have both non and nessun in the same sentence? Isn't that a double negative?
Yes, Italian uses double negatives! When a negative word like nessun comes after the verb, you must put non before the verb. If a negative word comes before the verb, the non is dropped (for example: Nessuno ha fatto un errore means "Nobody made a mistake").
Why does Italian use ha fatto for "made" here?
The verb fare translates to both "to do" and "to make". The standard phrase for "to make a mistake" in Italian is fare un errore. In this sentence, it is conjugated in the past tense (passato prossimo) as ha fatto.

Learn Non ha fatto nessun errore nel test and more in Italian

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Italian →