Learn Italian: Non c'è mai nessuno qui, ma ne vale la pena. - There is never anyone here, but it is worth it.

Non c'è mai nessuno qui, ma ne vale la pena.

There is never anyone here, but it is worth it.

Breakdown of Non c'è mai nessuno qui, ma ne vale la pena.

Questions & Answers about Non c'è mai nessuno qui, ma ne vale la pena.

Why do we need non if we already have mai and nessuno?

Italian uses negative concord, meaning you can chain multiple negative words together to express a single negative idea. Because both mai and nessuno are placed after the verb, Italian grammar requires you to start the verb phrase with non.

Why does nessuno translate to anyone here instead of no one?

English avoids double negatives, so we translate the final word as anyone to sound natural. In Italian, once the verb is made negative by non, any indefinite pronouns or adverbs that follow it must also be in their negative forms. That is why Italian pairs mai with nessuno rather than a positive word like qualcuno.

If I changed the word order to put nessuno at the beginning, would I still use non?

No, if you move a negative word before the verb to act as the subject, you drop the non. For example, you would say Nessuno è mai qui. You still keep mai because the negative words continue to stack, but the leading non is no longer used.

What is the purpose of ne in the phrase ne vale la pena?