Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "nothing" in Russian

This Russian word is one of the top 1000 words in Russian. The complete list of most common Russian words is available here.

ничто

Meaning: nothing, not a thing, (not) anything

Pronunciation: [neesh-TOH]

Part of speech: pronoun (unlike in English, double negation is allowed and very common in Russian)

Rank: #84 (see frequency list)

Example sentences:

Ничто́ не пропада́ет без следа́.
Nothing disappears without a trace.
Мне никто́ и ничто́ не меша́ет твори́ть.
Not a single person or a thing prevents me from creating. (lit: nobody and nothing)
Он ничего не видел.
He didn't see anything.
Эти котята ничем не отличаются друг от друга.
These kittens are no different from each other.
Никто ничего не знал.
Nobody knew anything.
В нём ничего особенного нет.
There is nothing special about him.
Это ничего не значит.
It does not mean anything.

Idioms and set expressions:

Ничего! = It's all right!; No harm done!
Ничего подобного! = Nothing of the kind!
ничего не стоящий = worthless

Proverbs and sayings:

Ничто не ново под луной.
There is nothing new under the sun.
Ничто не вечно под луной.
Morning sun never lasts a day.
Все меняется, ничто не исчезает.
Nothing disappears, only changes.
Не ошибается тот, кто ничего не делает.
He who makes no mistakes makes nothing.
Нет ничего невозможного.
Nothing is impossible.
Ничего святого.
Nothing is sacred for you.

Other forms of the word (declensions):

Case	Form
Nominative	ничто́
Genitive	ничего́
Dative	ничему́
Accusative	ничего́
Instrumental	ниче́м
Prepositional	ни о чём

Phrase recordings: Copyright(c) 2011 MasterRussian.com. All rights reserved.
Word recordings: Copyright(c) 2006 Streit Goulnara, Streit Eric, Vion Nicolas. Copyright(c) 2007 S. Sakhno, N. Vion. Distributed under CC-BY.

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