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Ni el perro ni el gato están en casa.

Ni el perro ni el gato están en casa.
Neither the dog nor the cat is at home.
From Lesson 52:Me neither (también, tampoco, ni)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Ni el perro ni el gato están en casa.

What does ni mean when it is used twice in the same sentence?
The pair ni... ni... means "neither... nor...". Here, ni el perro ni el gato translates perfectly to "neither the dog nor the cat".
Why is the verb están plural when the English translation uses the singular word "is"?
In English, "neither... nor..." usually takes a singular verb if both subjects are singular. However, in Spanish, when the subjects come before the verb like they do here, you group them together and use a plural verb. That is why we use están (they are) instead of the singular está (it is).
Why use están here instead of son if both can translate to "they are"?
In Spanish, we use the verb estar to talk about physical locations. Since the sentence is about where the pets are located, we must use están rather than a form of the verb ser.
Why is it en casa and not en la casa?
Just like in English, Spanish drops the article to form the set phrase en casa, which means "at home". If you were to say en la casa, it would mean "in the house", focusing more on the physical building itself.

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