The double negative in Italian

By Sigrid Lee

In proper English, we are not supposed to use double negatives. We can either say, "I am neither stupid nor ignorant," or "I'm not stupid or ignorant," but I can't say, "I'm not neither stupid nor ignorant."

We use double negatives in certain expressions or with poetic license, for example, in the famous song by Bill Withers, whose first line is:

"Ain't no sunshine when she's gone."

Of course, "ain't" as an alternative to "isn't" and other negative conjugations of the verb "to be," is also not grammatically correct. But we use it sometimes for effect. Another example of poetic license using a double negative is from the Rolling Stones song:

"I can't get no satisfaction."

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However, in Italian, double negatives aren't just OK, they are obligatory in many cases! When comparing two equivalent negative things, né is used and means both "neither" and "nor," which can make for some tricky choices in translating sometimes. So in this case, we have three negatives. Careful not to forget the accent here, as ne with no accent is a pronoun.

Non mangio né carne né pesce (I eat neither meat nor fish).

Note that né and né come after the verb, whereas non comes before the verb.

È possibile che se faccio attività fisica io, poi non riesco a suonare né l'oboe né il pianoforte,

It is possible that if I do physical activity, then I'll be able to play neither the oboe nor the piano.

Captions 4-6, La compagnia del cigno EP 5 - Part 8
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Non gli arrivano né il rumore dei tifosi incollati alle recinzioni, né quello della pioggia.

Reaching him is neither the noise of the fans glued to the barriers, nor that of the rain.

Captions 31-32, Fulvio Benelli Crimine Infinito, romanzo - Part 1
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And here, né features in a common expression to use to express indifference.

A ma', Dante mo' nun me [romanesco: ora non mi] fa né caldo né freddo.

Hey Mom, now, Dante leaves me indifferent (neither hot nor cold).

Caption 16, La Ladra EP. 9 - L'amico sconosciuto - Part 15
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If you listen for the word niente (nothing, none), you will likely hear non before the noun preceding it, as in this example.

Ma non mi importa niente assolutamente,

But I absolutely don't care at all, [it doesn't matter to me at all]

Caption 33, Provaci ancora prof! S3EP1 - Due americane a Roma - Part 7
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Another similar word, frequently referring to people, is nessuno (no one):

Non c'è nessuno che può aiutarci.

There is no one who can help us.

Caption 12, Caravaggio EP1 - Part 2
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After you apologize to someone, you might hear him or her say, Fa niente (it doesn't matter), but it's pretty much an accepted, shortened form of: Non fa niente (it doesn't matter).

Non fa niente, tranquilla.

It doesn't matter, don't worry.

Caption 33, La compagnia del cigno S1 EP4 - Part 12
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The main thing to keep in mind is that in Italian, a double negative intensifies a negative statement; it does not make it positive.

Thanks for reading, and we hope you have learned something! Let us know if you want to delve further into this topic, with more examples. Write to us at [email protected].