nenhum

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese nin (h)ũu, earlier nen (h)ũu, from Late Latin nec ūnus (“not even one”). Displaced the collateral form ningũu. Compare Galician ningún, Spanish ninguno.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /nẽˈɲũ/ [nẽˈj̃ũ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /nẽˈɲũ/ [nẽˈj̃ũ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /neˈɲũ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /nɨˈɲũ/

• (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): [ˈnɲũ]

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ũ
• Hyphenation: ne‧nhum

Determiner

nenhum (feminine nenhuma, masculine plural nenhuns, feminine plural nenhumas)

1. no, none

   Nenhuma pessoa foi vista por aqui.

   No person was seen around here.

Pronoun

nenhum (feminine nenhuma)

1. not any, none

   Eu não encontrei nenhum.

   I didn't find any.

Usage notes

• The plural forms nenhuns and nenhumas are now uncommon and are only used with pluralia tantum, nouns that change meaning in the plural, and multiple things considered together (e.g. nenhuns dois lugares ("no two places")).

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:nenhum.

Further reading

• “nenhum”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “nenhum”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026