никакой
nikakoy
The English phrase "none" can be expressed in Russian as никакой (nikakoy).
The word is used to indicate the absence of any person or thing from a group. While никакой is a common way to express this, you may encounter other terms depending on the context: Ничего means nothing or none and the construction Нет ничего literally translates to "there is nothing" or "there are none."
What does it mean word for word?
The term никакой literally translates to "no kind of" or "no sort of".
How does it change in a sentence?
When referring to the absence of multiple items or people, you should use the genitive plural form никаких. For example, никаких проблем means "no problems".
How do you pronounce it?
nikakoy
Did you know?
- The word никакой can also be used colloquially to describe a person who is completely unimpressive or 'no good'.
- When using никакой to mean 'none', Russian requires a 'double negative' construction, where both the adjective and the verb are negated.
- The word никакой is a combination of the negative particle ни and the interrogative pronoun какой, which means 'which' or 'what kind'.
Examples in context
- "Какой банк надёжный?" – "Никакой"."Which bank is trustworthy?" "None of them."This example shows how to use никакой to answer a question about which bank is trustworthy.Tatoeba #12845931 by marafon, translation #12845684 by rul
- Никакой из этих вариантов не выглядит слишком привлекательно.None of these options look very attractive.This sentence demonstrates the use of никакой to indicate that none of the options look attractive.Tatoeba #10746435 by Ooneykcall, translation #10746423 by glossboss
- У меня ничего нет.I have nothing.
- В комнате нет ничего.There is nothing in the room.
- В отчете отсутствует информация.The report lacks information.
- У меня ноль времени.I have zero time.
- Никакой помощи от него не дождаться.Nikakoy pomoshchi ot nego ne dozhdat'sya.No help can be expected from him.
Example conversation
Sergei and Ekaterina are looking for a free table at a cafe.
- Сергей SergeyТы видишь свободный столик?Ty vidish svobodny stolik?Do you see a free table?
- Екатерина EkaterinaНет, никакой из них не свободен.Net, nikakoy iz nikh ne svoboden.No, none of them are free.
- Сергей SergeyТогда пойдём в другое место.Togda poidyom v drugoye mesto.Then let's go somewhere else.
- Екатерина EkaterinaСогласна, здесь слишком много людей.Soglasna, zdes slishkom mnogo lyudey.I agree, there are too many people here.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries никакой, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
