nie

See also: Nie, NIE, niē, nié, niě, niè, -nie, nie-, and -nie-

Aba

Noun

nie

1. water

References

• D. T. Tryon, Towards a Classification of Solomon Islands Languages

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Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch niet, nie, from Middle Dutch niwet, niet, from Old Dutch *niowiht, niewiht.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/ (generally)
• IPA^(key): /‿i/ (commonly after a verb that ends in a consonant)

Adverb

nie

1. not

   Hy kan nie Afrikaans praat nie.

   He can't speak Afrikaans.

Usage notes

• This word has to be repeated at the end of a sentence, unless it is already the last word according to its natural position. (See the Wikipedia article about double negatives in Germanic languages.) Double negation is optional when the last word is another negator, such as nooit (“never”).

Related terms

• niemand
• niks

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/

Adverb

nie

1. (dialectal) Alternative form of niet

Usage notes

• While the spelling nie and the invariable use of the corresponding pronunciation are dialectal, the standard word niet is not rarely given the same pronunciation, particularly in fast speech.

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/

Verb

nie

1. first-person singular present indicative of nier
2. third-person singular present indicative of nier
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of nier
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of nier
5. second-person singular imperative of nier

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German

Etymology

From Old High German nio.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /niː/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iː

Adverb

nie

1. never, never at all (referring to an indefinite period of time)

   Das ist nie passiert! – That has never happened!

   Wir werden die Wahrheit wohl nie erfahren. – We'll probably never know the truth.

2. never, not once (referring to a defined period of time; see usage notes below)

   Er hat sich in zwei Wochen nie die Haare gewaschen.

   He never washed his hair for two weeks.

Usage notes

• (not once): In English it is quite common to use the word “never” referring to a defined period of time: “I was waiting all night, but he never called.” German generally prefers, and often requires, to use nicht (“not”) in such contexts, possibly emphasized by another adverb such as gar or überhaupt: Ich habe den ganzen Abend gewartet, aber er hat (gar) nicht angerufen. Using nie is only possible if such a period of time is (unusually) long, as in the example sentence above.

Synonyms

• (never at all): niemals, nimmer (archaic)
• (not once): nicht, gar nicht, überhaupt nicht

Derived terms

• nie und nimmer

See also

probability	100 %	99 %	50 %	1 %	0 %
Adverb	immer	meistens	manchmal	selten	nie

Further reading

• nie in Duden online

Anagrams

• ein

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Japanese

Romanization

nie

1. Rōmaji transcription of にえ

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Mandarin

Romanization

nie

1. Nonstandard spelling of niē.
2. Nonstandard spelling of nié.
3. Nonstandard spelling of niě.
4. Nonstandard spelling of niè.

Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

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Polish

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *ne.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɲɛ/

• Audio

  (file)

Particle

nie

1. Negation particle for nouns; no
2. Negation particle for verbs and participles; not, don't, didn't

Related terms

• nie-

Further reading

• nie in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Pronoun

nie

1. Accusative singular form of ono

Usage notes

Used only with prepositions.

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Serbo-Croatian

Verb

nie

1. Obsolete spelling of nije