Learn Italian: Lui non ha mai nessuna speranza.

Lui non ha mai nessuna speranza.

He never has any hope.

Breakdown of Lui non ha mai nessuna speranza.

Questions & Answers about Lui non ha mai nessuna speranza.

Why is it nessuna in this sentence instead of nessun or nessuno?

The adjective nessuno changes its ending to match the noun it modifies. Here, it modifies speranza, which is a feminine noun starting with a consonant, so it takes the feminine form nessuna. It follows the exact same pattern as the word for "a" or "an" (una speranza).

Would nessuna change if the feminine noun started with a vowel?

Yes! If the feminine noun started with a vowel, like amica, you would drop the final 'a' and add an apostrophe to make nessun'. Because speranza starts with a consonant, we keep the full nessuna.

The English translation says "any hope". Why do we use the negative word nessuna instead of a word for "any"?

In Italian, once you negate the verb with non, any words that follow it expressing "any" or "ever" must also take their negative forms. You cannot mix a negative verb with a positive word like qualche (some or any). This is why "any hope" becomes nessuna speranza after non ha mai.

We have non, mai, and nessuna all in one sentence. Is this a triple negative?