Learn Italian: Il venditore non ha nessuno scrupolo.

Il venditore non ha nessuno scrupolo.

The seller has no scruples.

Breakdown of Il venditore non ha nessuno scrupolo.

no / not any (+ noun)

Questions & Answers about Il venditore non ha nessuno scrupolo.

Why is the full word nessuno used here instead of the shortened nessun?

It depends on the first letters of the noun that follows it. Because scrupolo starts with an s followed by a consonant, we must use nessuno. It follows the exact same rule as the definite article: just as you would say lo scrupolo and not il scrupolo, you must use nessuno scrupolo.

The English translation uses the plural 'scruples'. Why is scrupolo singular in Italian?

The negative adjective nessuno (meaning 'no' or 'not any') is almost always used with a singular noun in Italian. While in English we naturally say 'no scruples' or 'no problems', Italian keeps the noun singular to literally mean 'not even one scruple'.

Why do we need the word non before the verb if nessuno already makes the sentence negative?

Italian requires a double negative when a negative word like nessuno, niente, or mai comes after the verb. Since nessuno is after the verb ha, you must put non before it. If nessuno came before the verb as the subject, the non would be dropped.

If the seller were female (la venditrice), would nessuno change to nessuna?