גאָרנישט
gornisht
The English word "nothing" is translated into Yiddish as גאָרנישט (gornisht).
גאָרנישט is used to express the concept of not any thing.
Meaning: not any thing (pron)
What does it mean word for word?
The word גאָרנישט is a compound of גאָר, meaning completely or at all and nichts, meaning nothing.
Which one should you use?
It is important to distinguish between גאָרנישט, which means "nothing" and נישט, which means "not". While גאָרנישט represents the absence of a thing, נישט is used to negate verbs or adjectives.
How does it change in a sentence?
גאָרנישט is an indeclinable adverbial noun, which means it does not change its form to match gender or grammatical case.
How do you pronounce it?
gornisht
Did you know?
- While גאָרנישט means 'nothing', Yiddish speakers often use a double negative in a sentence. This is grammatically correct in Yiddish and does not cancel out the negation as it often does in standard English.
- Because Yiddish is a fusion language, גאָרנישט represents the Germanic layer of the language. In religious texts, however, you might find different terms for 'nothing' rooted in Hebrew.
- The word גאָרנישט is a close relative of the German phrase gar nicht. While the German version remains two separate words meaning 'not at all', Yiddish fused them into a single word for 'nothing'.
Examples in context
- איך קום דיר גאָרנישט.I owe you nothing.This sentence demonstrates how to use גאָרנישט to express owing nothing.Tatoeba #11274017 by shekitten, translation #1934789 by Spamster
- גאָרנישט קען זי שטערן.Nothing can bother her.This sentence shows how to use גאָרנישט as the subject of a sentence.Tatoeba #12666409 by rul, translation #12667197 by rul
- גאָרנישט קען זיי שטערן.Nothing can bother them.Tatoeba #12666406 by rul, translation #12667201 by rul
- 77 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Chana and Berel are talking about a mysterious package.
- חנה Chanaוואס איז אין דעם קאַרטאָן?Vos iz in dem karton?What is in this box?
- בערל Berelעס איז גאָרנישט דאָרטן.Es iz gornisht dortn.There is nothing there.
- חנה Chanaביסטו זיכער?Bist du zikher?Are you sure?
- בערל Berelיאָ, איך זע גאָרנישט.Yo, ikh ze gornisht.Yes, I see nothing.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “nothing” translations and entries גאָרנישט, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries גאָרנישט, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
