The Negative Construction ne…ni…ni. by Bruce Sallee and David Hebert
The French construction ne…ni…ni is the equivalent of the English “neither…nor” when referring to more than one thing in the negative.
You should expect to see ni twice in each sentence. This negative construction can be used with nouns that are acting either as the subject or as the object of the sentence. When used with the object, the negative conjunction follows the same predictable pattern as other negative constructions; the ni is simply repeated before each object.
Il n'aime ni le thé ni le café. |
He likes neither tea or coffee. |
When used with two nouns that are acting as the subject, a ni is placed before each subject. The ne is placed in front of the verb.
Ni Alain ni Paul ne vient ici. |
Neither Alain nor Paul comes here. |
You can also use ne…ni…ni with verb actions to indicate that two things are not done. The subject of the sentence appears only one time, because the conjunction serves to join the second verb to the subject:
Il ne sait ni lire ni écrire. |
He can neither read nor write. |
