nichts

== German == === Alternative forms === nix (a very common colloquial pronunciation; frequently seen in informal writing) nischt (dialectal, widely restricted to eastern Germany) === Etymology === From Middle High German nihtes niht (“nothing of nothing”), a reenforcing construction with niht. Compare French rien de rien, Spanish nada de nada. See nicht. Cognate with Dutch niets, Low German nix, Hunsrik nichs. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): [nɪçt͡s], /nɪx(t)s/, /nɪks/ Rhymes: -ɪçt͡s === Pronoun === nichts n (indefinite pronoun) nothing ==== Usage notes ==== Used instead of nicht to negate a sentence involving a non-specific noun. Gibt es da etwas? Nein, ich sehe nichts. ― Is there something there? No, I don't see anything. Frequently, especially in spoken or informal language, accompanied by gar. Ich sehe gar nichts. ― I don't see anything at all. ==== Declension ==== Invariable. A following adjective is capitalized and declined as a neuter singular in the strong pattern. Thus nichts Neues (“nothing new”) in the nominative and accusative cases; nichts Neuem in the dative case. A genitive form does not exist. It is paraphrased by means of the preposition von (“of”). After the prepositions statt, trotz, während, and wegen, the dative case is used instead: wegen nichts Wichtigem – “because of nothing important” (i.e. because of something unimportant). === See also === === References === === Further reading === “nichts” in Duden online “nichts”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎[1] (in German) == Scots == === Noun === nichts plural of nicht