How do you say nothing in French?

With ne… rien: je ne vois rien, I can't see anything. Ne goes in front of the verb and rien after it, in the slot pas would occupy. As a one-word answer, rien stands alone: Tu veux quoi ? — Rien.

Where does rien go in the passé composé?

Between the auxiliary and the past participle: je n'ai rien dit, elle n'a rien compris. It follows the same rule as pas, so if you can place pas correctly you can place rien.

Why is it rien de grave and not rien grave?

Because rien is a pronoun, and an adjective cannot attach straight to it. French links them with de, and the adjective stays masculine singular: rien de nouveau, rien d'important, rien de spécial.

What's the difference between rien and personne?

Rien means nothing and refers to things; personne means nobody and refers to people. They behave identically: both take ne, both can be the subject, and neither allows pas. Je n'ai rien vu, I saw nothing; je n'ai vu personne, I saw nobody.

What does de rien mean?

It is the standard answer to merci, equivalent to you're welcome or don't mention it. Literally it means of nothing, and it has no verb, which is why there is no ne in it. Je vous en prie is the more formal version.

French grammar · Beginner

Ne Rien in French: How to Say Nothing and Not Anything

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

Nothing in French is ne… rien, with ne in front of the verb and rien after it. Where rien goes depends on the verb form: after a simple verb, between the auxiliary and the participle in a compound tense, and in front of an infinitive. As a subject it comes first and still takes a ne.

Je n'ai rien vu.

I didn't see anything.

What it is

Rien is a pronoun meaning nothing, and it takes the place that pas would occupy in an ordinary negation. That is the key to it: wherever you would have put pas, put rien instead, and the sentence means nothing rather than not. Because rien is itself the negative word, pas never appears alongside it.

Je ne comprends rien. — I don't understand anything.

How to spot it

Look for the pair: a ne before the verb and a rien in the slot after it. If rien opens the sentence, it is the subject, and the ne still has to be there.

Il ne dit rien. — He isn't saying anything.
Nous n'avons rien entendu. — We didn't hear anything.
Rien ne fonctionne ici. — Nothing works here.
Elle préfère ne rien dire. — She'd rather say nothing.

English has two words, nothing and not… anything. French has one structure for both, so je n'ai rien vu translates either.

Ne Rien Quick Reference

Where rien goes in each verb form

Verb form	Position of rien	Example
Simple tense	after the verb	Je ne vois rien. — I can't see anything.
Compound tense	between auxiliary and participle	Je n'ai rien vu. — I didn't see anything.
Infinitive	before the infinitive, after ne	Il vaut mieux ne rien dire.
Subject	first, with ne on the verb	Rien n'a changé. — Nothing has changed.
With a modal verb	after the conjugated verb	Je ne peux rien faire. — I can't do anything.
Imperative	after the verb	Ne dis rien ! — Don't say anything!
Alone as an answer	no ne at all	Tu fais quoi ? — Rien.

Common Ne Rien Examples in French

Rien in each of its positions and combinations:

As the Object

Je ne veux rien.: I don't want anything.
Il n'a rien mangé depuis hier.: He hasn't eaten anything since yesterday.
Elle ne comprend rien à la finance.: She doesn't understand anything about finance.
On n'a rien trouvé dans le tiroir.: We found nothing in the drawer.

In compound tenses rien sits before the past participle, which is where pas would go.

As the Subject

Rien ne me surprend plus.: Nothing surprises me any more.
Rien n'est jamais simple.: Nothing is ever simple.
Rien ne s'est passé comme prévu.: Nothing went as planned.
Rien ne t'oblige à rester.: Nothing obliges you to stay.

Even at the head of the sentence, rien needs its ne. Rien fonctionne is not French.

Rien De and Rien À

Il n'y a rien de grave.: There's nothing serious.
Rien de nouveau depuis ce matin.: Nothing new since this morning.
Je n'ai rien à déclarer.: I have nothing to declare.
Ça n'a rien à voir avec toi.: That has nothing to do with you.

An adjective after rien needs de and stays masculine singular: rien de grave, rien d'intéressant.

Everyday Expressions

De rien.: You're welcome.
Ça ne fait rien.: It doesn't matter.
Rien du tout.: Nothing at all.
En un rien de temps.: In no time at all.

De rien is the standard reply to merci, and it never takes a ne because there is no verb.

How Ne… Rien Works

Rien is a pronoun that has become a negator, and its behaviour follows from both of those facts.

Rien Takes the Place of Pas

In every verb form, rien lands exactly where pas would. That single observation gives you the word order for the whole system, including compound tenses and infinitives.

Je n'ai pas compris ; je n'ai rien compris.

I didn't understand; I didn't understand anything.

Rien goes where pas goes.

Never Rien and Pas Together

Since rien is the negative element, adding pas negates the sentence twice. Je ne fais rien is correct; je ne fais pas rien would mean something like I'm not doing nothing, which French avoids.

Elle ne dit rien.

She isn't saying anything.

One negator: rien, not pas.

It Combines with Other Negatives

Rien stacks happily with plus, jamais, and personne, in a fixed order: plus rien, jamais rien, personne… rien. Each adds its own layer without cancelling the others.

Il ne me dit plus jamais rien.

He never tells me anything any more.

plus rien, jamais rien, and both together.

An Adjective After Rien Needs De

Rien is a pronoun, so an adjective cannot attach to it directly. French inserts de, and the adjective stays masculine singular because rien has no gender or number.

Il n'y a rien d'intéressant à la télévision.

There's nothing interesting on television.

rien + de + masculine adjective.

On Its Own It Needs No Ne

As a one-word answer or in a verbless phrase, rien stands alone. This is the same principle that lets pas appear without ne: with no conjugated verb, there is nothing for ne to attach to.

Qu'est-ce qu'il t'a dit ? — Rien.

What did he tell you? — Nothing.

No verb, no ne.

Common Mistakes with Ne Rien

Incorrect: Je n'ai vu rien. — I didn't see anything.

Correct: Je n'ai rien vu. — I didn't see anything.

In a compound tense, rien goes between the auxiliary and the past participle, exactly where pas would go. Putting it after the participle copies English word order.

Incorrect: Je ne fais pas rien. — I'm not doing anything.

Correct: Je ne fais rien. — I'm not doing anything.

English says not anything, which tempts learners to include both words. Rien already is the negation, so pas has to go.

Incorrect: Il n'y a rien de nouvelle. — There's nothing new.

Correct: Il n'y a rien de nouveau. — There's nothing new.

Rien has no gender, so the adjective after de cannot agree with anything. It stays in the masculine singular, whatever the topic of the sentence.

Incorrect: Rien fonctionne dans cet appartement. — Nothing works in this flat.

Correct: Rien ne fonctionne dans cet appartement. — Nothing works in this flat.

When rien is the subject it still requires ne on the verb. English needs no second word here, so the ne is easy to forget.

The Three Patterns Built on Rien

Rien de, rien à, and rien que each have their own meaning, and all three are extremely frequent.

Rien de plus an adjective

To say nothing plus a description, insert de. The adjective is always masculine singular, whatever the sentence is about.

Rien de grave, rassure-toi.: Nothing serious, don't worry.
Il n'y a rien de tel qu'un bon café.: There's nothing like a good coffee.
Rien d'étonnant à cela.: Nothing surprising about that.
Elle n'a rien de spécial à raconter.: She has nothing special to tell.

The same pattern works with quelque chose: quelque chose de bizarre, something odd.

Rien à plus an infinitive

Rien à introduces something that could be done but is not. It gives a set of very common fixed phrases.

Rien à faire, la porte est bloquée.: Nothing doing, the door is stuck.
Je n'ai rien à ajouter.: I have nothing to add.
Rien à signaler.: Nothing to report.
Ça n'a rien à voir.: That's completely unrelated.

Rien à voir avec is the everyday way of saying that two things have no connection.

Rien que: nothing but

With que, rien becomes a restriction rather than a negation, and it means only or just. There is no ne on the verb.

Rien que d'y penser, j'ai froid.: Just thinking about it makes me cold.
Rien que le titre m'a fait rire.: The title alone made me laugh.
Rien qu'une minute, s'il te plaît.: Just one minute, please.

Compare je n'ai rien mangé, I ate nothing, with j'ai mangé rien que du pain, I ate nothing but bread.

Ne Rien FAQs

How do you say nothing in French?: With ne… rien: je ne vois rien, I can't see anything. Ne goes in front of the verb and rien after it, in the slot pas would occupy. As a one-word answer, rien stands alone: Tu veux quoi ? — Rien.
Where does rien go in the passé composé?: Between the auxiliary and the past participle: je n'ai rien dit, elle n'a rien compris. It follows the same rule as pas, so if you can place pas correctly you can place rien.
Why is it rien de grave and not rien grave?: Because rien is a pronoun, and an adjective cannot attach straight to it. French links them with de, and the adjective stays masculine singular: rien de nouveau, rien d'important, rien de spécial.
What's the difference between rien and personne?: Rien means nothing and refers to things; personne means nobody and refers to people. They behave identically: both take ne, both can be the subject, and neither allows pas. Je n'ai rien vu, I saw nothing; je n'ai vu personne, I saw nobody.
What does de rien mean?: It is the standard answer to merci, equivalent to you're welcome or don't mention it. Literally it means of nothing, and it has no verb, which is why there is no ne in it. Je vous en prie is the more formal version.